Nozomi of the Sand
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: During a business trip to the Elemental Countries, Hope Potter finds herself with new friends in a Hidden Village called Suna. There she meets the Sand Siblings, and realizes that she has other options than playing to the Headmaster's tune. Can she save Gaara from his lonely existence, or will Hope be drawn into a battle she can't win? Hope/Gaara
1. Chapter 1

Hope Potter was somewhat happy. For the first time in her life, the Dursley clan was forced to bring her with them on an all expenses paid trip outside Britian. They were going to a place called Suna, or as the helpful translator told her, the Village Hidden in the Sand.

Which, upon further questioning, sounded a lot like Egypt. Ron had sent a clipping mentioning the trip they were taking to visit the oldest Weasly son Bill.

Perhaps she would run into them...and possibly escape her relatives before they returned to Britian. Hedwig was staying with her friend Luna, since it was far too hot for the poor owl to survive, and Luna was the only person she trusted with her beloved familiar.

She had lost all trust in Hermione and Ron after learning by accident that Dumbledore was paying them to stay friends with her, even after all the adventures they had gone through. Though in retrospect, she had to wonder if all the near death adventures could have been avoided entirely.

She was quite pleased when she didn't have to pick up the bags, as the helpful 'shinobi' did it for her. Her backpack (she had bought one in Diagon after slipping away from Mrs. Weasly that had a permanent expansion spell on it and a notice-me-not that she cast before leaving the school last year) was still firmly on her shoulders, and she had enough common sense to fill it with a myriad of helpful traveling items she had found in Diagon.

How Mrs. Weasly missed hearing the floo go off so late at night, she would never know. It was a good thing that shop catered to vampires.

She stepped out into the arid air, noting the distinct lack of moisture. Unlike the Dursleys, she didn't mind the heat or the fact that it was so dry. All those summers weeding the garden with little to no water had made her adapt to such conditions.

Dudley and Vernon on the other hand, were huffing and puffing with cracked lips in fifteen minutes. Only Petunia seemed to be dealing with the climate normally, though her lips were starting to chap as well.

Hope had the foresight to apply some very strong lip balm to keep that from happening to her.

* * *

Once they knew where they were staying, Hope escaped her 'family' to go exploring. If she went too close to somewhere she shouldn't, the helpful shinobi would politely inform her. Vernon could care less if she got lost and died in the desert.

Hope was, well, hopelessly lost. She had wandered to the market district and from there lost her way. It was just lucky that she took such an interest in Japanese culture, because it helped her to communicate her problem with the villagers. She didn't need a translator.

She went up to the nearest person and asked for directions to the market district.

The boy who turned looked startled, but gave her the directions. He seemed very surprised that she had touched his shoulder. She wondered why, but thanked him and followed his directions exactly. She found herself in the bookstore and went in. Some of the books looked like they had magic in them, but further inquiry proved that you needed a special license. She found one with an odd bookmark that fell out, and put it in her pocket. The book had an orange cover on it.

She left with a few odd books (and learned that some of them didn't require the special license if you bribed the shopkeeper with a sickle or two) and immediately headed towards the blacksmith.

"How can I... Why's a civilian in here?"

She reached into her backpack and pulled out a long tube. Once she unscrewed the cap, she brought her sword to the counter.

"I would like to have this checked for any damage and possibly purchase a kit to keep it in good shape. If you have any books on sword techniques I would buy them as well."

The guy gave her an odd look, but did as she asked. He came back out thirty minutes later with her looking at the tessen with interest.

"15,000 ryo for the yellow one, and 18,500 for the blue," he said without hesitating.

"In your opinion which one is better? And I want your professional opinion, not whichever one looks pretty," she asked.

"The yellow one is good enough to fight with, but it's more of a decoration than anything for the nobles. The blue one is good for channeling chakra, but it breaks easily and it would be difficult to replace. If you wanted something sturdy enough to really fight with, I would recommend this..." he said, pulling out a standard genin battle fan for those just starting out. It had weights to it so the genin could get stronger, but that was about it.

"How much?"

"25,000 ryo. I can give you the kenjutsu scroll for 7,500 and the repair kit for 2,500. 3,600 if you want the instruction manual," he said back.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a galleon.

"This is almost pure gold, and it weighs about ten grams. The exchange rate back home is 5 pounds to a gold coin."

The man looked shocked, but did a quick calculation in his head.

"I would need about fifty of these then," he said.

She pulled them out without hesitation. He watched with interest as she put the weapons back into the backpack, but figured she had a few fuin jutsu on the bag to hold them without breaking. Before she left, he gave her some advice on where to exchange the gold so she would have some local currency.

She left and in an hour she had enough currency to afford an A-rank mission in Suna.

Which meant she was going to have a major shopping spree. By the time she had made it back to the hotel (where she was sharing a room with Dudley to her disgust) the Dursleys were already feeling the effects of heat exhaustion, while she was barely winded from her power shopping. Instead of even considering sleeping in the same room as her whale of a cousin, she politely asked the shinobi guarding their rooms if there was any problem with her sleeping outside.

After spending an entire day 'escorting' the walrus, horse and pig, the man told her that she was free to sleep on the roof if she wanted, but to bring a blanket. Her sympathetic wince for him clearing made her the more likeable family member.

* * *

"What's your report?" asked the Kazekage. He didn't want the outsiders here, but they needed the business and Grunnings sold the best drills to dig wells.

"The man's family was ill suited to village life...with one noted exception," reported Baki.

"Who?"

"From what I can tell, the lone female child is unaffected by out climate, and she was reported to have shopped in several stores. I had Temari ask what she bought...apparently she's better funded than the family is because the store owners had nothing but good things to say about her. She was even able to bribe the scroll store owner to selling her a few minor jutsu that Academy students learn and bought a standard battle tessen from the blacksmith. According to him, the girl came in with what appears to be a Muramasa blade in very good condition. There was almost no bloodlust from it."

The Kazekage looked interested in that news. From what he understood, the girl was their niece, and she was the daughter of the wife's sister.

"There is more. She got lost within an hour of leaving the hotel and had a run in with Gaara..."

Now he looked concerned. The Kage motioned for him to continue.

"I'm not sure how or why, but she was able to get past his sand shield and close enough to tap his shoulder to ask for directions back to the market," said Baki, clearly disturbed by that. Gaara was _notorious _in the village for not letting anyone touch him, not even his sister. For an outsider to get that close and not have the shield react was...strange.

An hour later an even stranger report came in. Apparently the girl decided to sleep outside with nothing other than a blanket...and she had inadvertently chosen Gaara's roof of the night. He switched frequently, in order to avoid assassins and traps. Since he was infamous for being an insomniac, he often killed time reading.

The girl had not only decided to sit next to him, but she was actually _chatting_ with the boy, and he was talking back to her.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. Your sister and older brother fight over _make up_?"

"He claims it's war paint but I've seen the labels. He buys his so called paint from a popular make up store," said Gaara flatly.

"Kinky brother and cranky sister aside, I still prefer them to my so called family."

Gaara's eyebrow raised, and she explained.

"I have a walrus, a horse and a large pig for a family, and they hate me as much as I loathe them. If we could arrange it, we would have nothing to do with each other."

"How bad is it?"

"I'm essentially their personal chef, gardener and maid. They never do anything if they can order me to do it for them," she explained.

"My father sends assassins after me regularly," Gaara replied blandly.

"My aunt would kill me if she thought she could get away with it," Hope replied back.

"...We have seriously messed up families don't we?" said Hope sweatdropping.

Gaara said nothing, but she got the feeling he agreed completely.

"My sister and brother are afraid I will murder them in their sleep..."

"I wish I _had_ siblings. Damn homicidal maniac with hypocritical ideals..."

Soon they drifted off to safer topics, like books. To her delight, Gaara had read most of the same books she had, even if the translation was a bit odd. When she mentioned the orange book, he actually growled.

"That was probably the _Icha Icha_ series that is so popular. My brother and sister have almost complete collections of it, but I have yet to see the appeal."

"I found this odd bookmark in it," she said, bringing it out.

Gaara looked at it under the moonlight, and handed it back to her. He found her soothing to talk to, most likely because she had absolutely no fear of him like the rest of the villagers. He got the distinct feeling that even if he revealed his 'mother' she would still be calm around him. He rather liked the feeling.

"That appears to be chakra paper. You channel your chakra into it to learn your affinity. I had an Earth variant with some wind."

"What's chakra? I heard about it repeatedly today, but I never asked..."

Gaara gave her the rough explanation, which made her eyes light up.

"Sounds like my magic," she mused.

Gaara's eyebrows raised.

"I'm a witch. Can't do anything though or the people who govern us will get onto me again, even if it wasn't my fault the last time..." she muttered.

"Please tell me you aren't like those annoying magical girl animes Temari hates so much..."

It was Hope's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"You mean like _Sailor Moon_? If anything I'm the opposite of that whiny brat. I don't monologue, I hate those skimpy outfits, and I'm more likely to punch the bad guy than try to use my powers on him. I even own a sword and I recently started to learn how to use it," she said amused.

She reached into her bag, and handed him the tube. Gaara inspected the blade, impressed. It was a well made sword, and he could see the quality even with his inexperience. He handed it back.

"I found that in my school, and I started to learn how to use it through books...my training has been pretty shoddy since there weren't many books on the subject, and the ones I found in the library were for a different type."

"That looks like a tachi. You could probably find a few kenjutsu scrolls you could use in the book shops."

"I picked up a few care manuals at the blacksmiths. He told me the swordsmith who made this was a very famous one notorious for forging bloodthirsty blades. I also got this rather large tessen, though I have no idea how I'm supposed to train with it..."

"Temari could probably help you with that, or at least point you in the right direction. She uses a large battle fan too. Kankuro, on the other hand...he likes to play with dolls a little too much. I've caught him going through my sister's closet to swipe clothes for his puppets..."

Hope giggled, before a yawn escaped. Looking at the position of the moon, she could tell it was either really late or really early. At least three in the morning.

"How come you're not tired Gaara?"

"I'm an insomniac. If I try to sleep a demon takes over my body and causes destruction," he replied deadpan.

"I sometimes get nightmares of my adventures," she admitted. She carried at least a week's worth of dreamless sleep, but she wasn't going to mention that.

"I won't be offended if you fall asleep, Nozomi-chan," he said.

She used her bag as a pillow, and lay down to gaze at the moon. Without realizing it, she was sound asleep with Gaara silently watching guard. His team had been selected to guard the Dursley family while they were here...and he could honestly say that he didn't mind watching Nozomi. She was pleasant, kind and openly honest.

* * *

Gaara was positively homicidal upon being stuck guarding Dudley for an entire hour. The boy was brutish, rude, and extremely unpleasant in all sorts of ways. He had heard from Nozomi (he had been unable to pronounce her English name, so he stuck to the Japanese equivalent) that the country she was from was surrounded on all sides by water, though she lived a bit inland from the sea. So why did Dudley smell like hadn't bathed in nearly two weeks? Kankuro was barely able to keep Gaara from killing the boy.

He envied Temari, who was assigned to guard Nozomi. The two had struck up a conversation about battle fans and flying of all things.

When the family went to eat, it was Nozomi who warned Temari about their eating habits. After hearing Vernon's cold suggestion to not bother feeding her, the two girls headed off to a small stand that was much cheaper, but had better quality food. Unlike the Dursleys, Nozomi had no issues using chopsticks or lifting the ramen bowl to sip the broth.

(The Dursleys would spend an entire miserable hour trying to eat the BBQ with their chopsticks, only to give up and use their hands. This resulted in several painful burns, to the amusement of the Sand shinobi.)

Temari and Nozomi went to a little used training ground where Temari showed the girl basic moves that she could use with her new battle fan. To her surprise, Nozomi wielded it a little awkwardly, but that was more out of inexperience than anything else. She soon had the thing creating small tornadoes, to her amusement.

As thanks for the lessons, the two browsed the blacksmith's shop and Nozomi had an idea on how to thank Temari without her knowing it was her. A short conversation while Temari looked at the special stuff in the back proved fruitful...and the next time Temari came in for some upgrades she would find them free of charge. Nozomi felt it was thirty galleons well spent. The blacksmith was really starting to like the foreign girl.

(Especially after she was forced to take Dudley to the shop, and advised him to give the boy something dull and all flash. It was a decorational piece that could be fixed easily when Dudley broke it, which he did a week after returning. She now had it in her bag.)

Out of all the things they talked about, Temari was shocked the most by how Gaara acted around her. Nozomi was the only person he didn't direct a particularly homicidal gaze at, unlike the other three. If anything, he seemed far more relaxed than she had ever seen him... and was really surprised when she learned Nozomi actually talked to him without once being threatened.


	2. Chapter 2

Hope spent most of the trip around Temari and Gaara. Temari was particularly informative about how to use her 'chakra'. To her surprise, she _could_ use jutsu, even though she didn't know the first thing about chakra. Apparently it was so similar to magic that it made little to no difference. It was mostly based on intent.

As a result, she was soon walking up the walls to the roof, where Gaara always waited for her. He seemed to favor that roof since she arrived, to the surprise of the shinobi that always watched him.

All too soon, Nozomi had to go back to England.

She could honestly say she wouldn't mind living in Suna, despite how hot it was. She could avoid her so called family and she made some friends.

She did at least warn Temari and Gaara of the owls, which they took with a grain of salt, considering they were used to messenger birds. Hawks and falcons anyway.

Hope dipped the quill into the ink with practiced ease. She found it was easier to use a quill to write kanji than it was to use a pen for some reason.

"_Dear Gaara and Temari,_

_How are things in Suna? Has Kankuro raided Temari's closet or has he finally gotten some common sense and learned to buy his own clothes for his doll collection? Things here have grown pretty hectic...a man supposedly responsible for betraying my parents to the mad man that killed them escaped. Everyone is running around like headless chickens because the place he broke out of is supposedly impossible to escape._

_I find that the place I'm at is full of idiots, sadly._

_Have you gone on any interesting missions? Or are you as bored as I am?_

_I hope to hear from you soon, _

_Nozomi Potter"_

She tied it into a scroll once the ink dried, and whistled for Hedwig. She had paid for a permanent cooling charm for her, so she would be able to deliver the message.

"Watch out for sandstorms girl," she whispered.

Hedwig took flight, eager to be away from the castle. She couldn't stand that snooty owl the headmaster sent to bother her. He wanted to get her impregnated so she wouldn't be able to deliver any messages for her master.

Like that was ever going to happen after she had dominated the entire owlry last year. None of the school owls were idiot enough to challenge her, let alone worth enough of her attention.

* * *

Hedwig returned a week later, and Hope grabbed the scroll before Hermione could. She assumed Hope had gotten a letter from another school. The kanji certainly didn't help her suspicions.

Hope lit up with delight, and left the table before the letter could be confiscated.

_'Nozomi,_

_We were surprised to see the white owl on our window sill. Kankuro nearly got maimed trying to remove the letter, to Gaara's amusement. By the way, what _exactly_ did you mean raiding my closet...?_

_We have been on a few boring missions, but that was to be expected with Gaara killing anything that came too close to the clients. How has your training in wind chakra been going? Have you been able to fly on your fan yet?_

_I actually miss talking to you, since you are the only girl I've met who was interesting enough to talk to and wasn't obsessed with boys. I have to admit, I am glad that you did in fact write us._

_Temari.'_

**'Nozomi**

**Kankuro was almost blinded by your bird. It was highly amusing, and I think I nearly gave Temari a heart attack by snickering at the sight. She nearly mauled him anyway when she read that bit about him raiding her closet. You timed that comment perfectly for my amusement, even if it wasn't intentional.**

**Our missions have been the same, though I actually liked the time we had to escort you and those...animal shaped people. I miss talking to you on the roof. Temari seems to think something's up with me because I've been slightly more relaxed around her.**

**So what exactly is the news about this escaped convict the people over there are up in arms about?**

**Gaara'**

Hope grinned, and fed Hedwig her favorite treats. The owl hooted pleasantly, as if pleased.

"So you nearly mauled Kankuro? Good girl," she said grinning. Hedwig puffed up with pride. That smelly boy deserved the claws!

"_Dear Temari and Gaara_

_Hedwig seems to like you two. I'm glad she made it there alright, because she's actually more adapted to colder temperatures._

_Not much has happened here, aside from learning that this Sirius Black was one of my father's closest friends. The strangest thing is that I've been seeing this huge dog on the grounds, when the foul guards they've set against Black aren't making everyone miserable._

_I had a nasty experience with these beasts. They're called Dementors, and they are absolutely _foul_. My first encounter was on the train, and I actually fainted. From what I was told, they dredge up every unpleasant experience and drain all the good ones from you. Unfortunately for me, I've had a lifetime of unhappy memories for them to feed on._

_Our current Defense teacher is at least sympathetic to my problem, because he's promised to teach me a jutsu that will get rid of them. I think he's a werewolf, but as long as he doesn't try to bite me I don't have a problem with him. We had to face this creature called a boggart last month, and it was a rather...amusing experience._

_Boggarts turn into whatever you fear the most, and the first person to face it turned it into the most hated sensei here...and then proceeded to put the teacher in his grandmother's clothes. I wish I could send a picture but no one thought to bring a camera._

_I went up against the thing, and the boggart turned into a dementor of all things._

_I haven't made much progress on riding my fan like you do, but then again I have had trouble getting outside with these monsters roaming around. If I landed near them I would pass out and be in real trouble. Everyone seems against me going outside without someone to watch me for some odd reason._

_I hope you have some fun missions soon,_

_Nozomi._

_PS: Temari, if you want to know what I meant by the bit about Kankuro raiding your closet, ask Gaara. He knows more than I do about that..."_

She sent Hedwig off a few days later, and got a reply a month before Christmas.

* * *

_'Nozomi_

_Thanks for the tip about Kankuro. It's too bad you haven't had any luck, but maybe you can find a way to do it later. Just be sure to keep up the strength training and don't forget the handsigns. Your owl seems to take great pleasure annoying Kankuro. What sort of things does she like to eat? We need to reward her for attacking him._

_Gaara seems to calm down whenever he reads your letters. It's really weird._

_I must thank you...the blacksmith finally caved on who paid for my fan's new upgrades. All he would say until now was that a mysterious donor that I knew well enough had paid for them in advance. Now I can summon weasels with my fan._

_If this Sirius Black is so dangerous, then why hasn't he been caught yet? And I wonder why they have these...de-men-tors near a school full of children? I mean you can't be the only one experiencing issues with those things._

_Is a werewolf anything like a summon wolf?_

_We've had one interesting mission were Kankuro and I actually got to fight for a change. I think your blessing did the trick._

_Hope to hear from you soon,_

_Temari_

_PS: I included pictures of my retribution against my idiot brother for raiding my closet for his puppets. THERE SHALL BE NO SURVIVORS!'_

Hope giggled, then read Gaara's letter.

**'Nozomi**

**Thanks to you my sister has started a prank war against my brother Kankuro. Your owl seems determined to make his life hell whenever she is here. Though I did find it somewhat strange that she threatened to 'sick' me on him for his thefts. Could you possibly explain what she meant by that?**

**I must say thank you, because it had started to get fairly boring before your letter arrived.**

**I do not like the sound of these Dementor things. It's too bad I am not there, because I could easily crush them for you in my sand. The same applies to this Sirius Black.**

**I find it extremely odd that your owl, Hedwig, has taken a liking to me. Animals in general do not like me...except perhaps raccoons for some reason.**

**Safe travels, **

**Gaara'**

Hope barely contained her laughter at his letter. She knew he was somewhat sheltered, but this took the cake! She made a note to send them presents for Christmas, as well as the usual cheap ones for Ron and Hermione. She didn't want Neville to be turned against her, so she gave him a rare bonsai she had picked up in Sand.

Luna got a listing of summon animals that she would enjoy.

She sent Gaara a few copies of creature guides and a book on earth magic. She also included a crystal that would shed permanent light so his eyes wouldn't be harmed from reading in the dark. Temari she sent a copy of the air elemental magic and a stuffed weasel doll with a tiny fan sewn into it's paw. (She also included a well stocked prankster's kit to help Temari teach her brother a lesson, and included an instruction booklet that she translated to Japanese.) Hermione had thought the doll was for Ron. She even sent Kankuro something, though it was mostly a gag gift.

She sent him a very well stocked first aid kit and a mirror. She even included a note with a little smiley face that she knew would make Temari laugh.

"_Dear Gaara and Temari_

_Since the Christmas season is almost upon us in England, I thought I should share in the festivities and send your gifts ahead of time. Christmas is more or less a time to share presents and be around people you can stand while stuffing your face with large quantities of roasted birds and other good foods._

_Alas, I am stuck in a castle full of people who are complete idiots and would spread cruel rumors about me behind my back if given half the chance. I really wish I was in Suna instead of here._

_I heard about your prank war with your brother Kankuro...so I added a fully stocked kit and instructions to help you really get him good. Be sure to include more pictures!_

_(By the way Temari, werewolves are people bitten by someone cursed to turn into a wolf-like beast once a month during full moons. They have great difficulty discerning friend from foe on those nights, and are extremely dangerous. They are only dangerous during the full moon nights though, otherwise they are regular people with a slightly higher sense of smell.)_

_*Gaara, when Temari said she would 'sick' you on Kankuro, it meant she was threatening to use you ON him. To be fair though, you do come across as a little stab happy, so that's probably why she said it.*_

_I'm glad you got to go on an interesting mission for once. I wish I could join you, because I'm dead bored over here._

_It might interest you to know Temari that your advice on how to fly on the fan actually _saved _my life during a game where we fly on brooms called Quidditch. The dementors flooded the field during a game, and I fell off my broom when they came too close. Thankfully I had the fan on me, and I remembered your training. I was able to glide to the ground, but I passed out almost immediately after I put my fan back into my bag. The teachers were going ballistic over the whole thing...and some were demanding to know where I got the fan to begin with._

_I swear these people are complete idiots sometimes..._

_Hope your day is going better than mine has recently,_

_Nozomi_

_PS: Hedwig loves bacon, but she also enjoys eating dango too for some reason. I made some for her when I got back and she just gobbled them up."_

Hedwig had no problems carrying the packages...and returned right on Christmas. To her surprise, she was carrying more packages from the Sand Siblings. Including Kankuro to her amusement.

* * *

_'Dear Nozomi_

_Merry Christmas! We were surprised that you sent us anything since we don't actually celebrate that holiday here. In the spirit of the Winter Solstice Celebration, we've sent our traditional gifts through your owl. Though how she carried that huge stack of scrolls we have no idea._

_In order to open them, just push some chakra into the scrolls or cut your finger and smear some blood on the seal. Gaara included a basic book on seals so you can reuse the scrolls too._

_Thank you for those pranks, Kankuro's been cursing every time he goes near my room now! For the first time in months he's actually _avoiding_ my closet!_

_Hope these reach you in time for your holiday_

_Temari'_

**'Nozomi**

**Thank you for the new light, my headaches from reading under moonlight are finally going away. The pranks you sent Temari are very amusing, as was the first aid kit you sent Kankuro. He seemed a bit put out by the joke. I included a few basic books on seals for you to keep. Temari insisted that we send you something special for your next visit, perhaps you could join us for the next Winter Solstice Festival?**

**I am glad that you are safe, those creatures do not sound pleasant. If you need any protection from Black, you can always send a mission request to the Kazekage for our team, we would be happy to come see you again...well, Temari and I would be anyway. Kankuro doesn't seem to like that you are supplying our sister with tricks to use on him very much.**

**Have a happy winter solstice,**

**Gaara'**

Ron and Hermione watched with some disgust and horror as Hope bit her thumb hard enough for it to bleed, then dragged it across one of the medium sized scrolls Hedwig had delivered.

A large poof of smoke, and when it was gone a large box was sitting there with four books, all of it in kanji.

Hope opened the box and grinned wildly. Inside was a complete set of kunai and shuriken, with three spare sets so she could practice, as well as a book on how to throw them without hurting herself. Three of the books were on sealing, with the last on summons. She read the bookmarked page on blood seals, and quickly had the presents from Gaara back inside the scroll. Seeing her former friend's eying her with suspicion, she gathered the other two scrolls and went to visit Luna.

Luna watched with interest as Hope unsealed her other presents. Kankuro had sent her a basic book on puppetry and a small kit that civilians could use. It also had a request that she quite helping his sister prank him.

The one from Temari had a care kit for her fan, as well as some weights to improve her strength. Hope had been able to pick up her fan and carry it a little too easily, and her strength had skyrocketed with the new exercise of using her fan. There was also a large box which was clumsily wrapped.

Inside was a kimono that had a wind pattern on it, along with a simple obi to tie it up with. There was also a little comb from Gaara that had an owl on it that looked like Hedwig. Somehow she got the feeling Temari had a hand in helping him pick it out.

"Your friends in Sand seem really nice," Luna commented.

"Better than the ones here. At least they wouldn't betray me over money," said Hope bitterly.

She had become friends with Luna solely because Luna was the _only_ person in the school who knew her real gender. Everyone else seemed to be operating under the oddest illusion that she was a boy named Harry for some reason.

Luna, when asked why she called her Hope instead of Harry, replied with some amusement...

"_A simple trick like a gender confusion spell won't work on someone who sees everything as it really is."_

From what Hope understood, it meant that the Sight was an inherited quirk in Luna's family, passed down by her father.

She often suspected that Luna's family was descended from elves...not that Luna every disclaimed such a notion.

"So what do your friends look like?" asked Luna. She was very curious as to who had gotten Hope's attention so thoroughly. Her friend had been using that large fan rather regularly since the trip, and she had never seen the girl so happy.

Hope blinked.

"You know I don't actually have a picture of all three of them? Only the oldest boy..." she admitted.

Luna looked at her amused. Hope was very silly sometimes, but she rarely let it show because of Hermione and Ron. Those two had cut her deeply when she learned of them being bribed to push her towards danger.


	3. Chapter 3

A month later, and Hope got a reply from Temari and Gaara. They had included a picture of themselves with their brother and teacher. According to Gaara it was a copy of their team photo.

When Luna touched the photo, she went all stiff and her eyes rolled back. Hope had seen this happen before, when the girl had a vision of the basilisk.

She slumped forward.

"What did you see?"

She looked at Hope.

"Tell your tanuki friend that he should watch out for blonds. The fox in the Leaf shall prove his existence once and for all, just not in the way he expects. The Earth that flies shall take that which does not belong to him and he will seek to join the nine to awaken the tenth tail."

Hope winced, that sounded too much like Gaara was in for some rough time ahead.

She took out a piece of paper and started to write. Sometimes she looked at Luna so she could repeat something.

_'Dear Gaara_

_I think you should be aware of a warning my Seer friend has given me. I trust her warnings, because she has been proven right every time she has been granted a vision._

_Her warning to you was this:_

_**Be wary of the blond Fox in the Leaf. He shall prove your existance once and for all, just not in the way you will expect.**_

_**The flying Earth shall take what does not belong to him, and he will seek to join the nine to awaken the Tenth Tail.**_

_The last time she gave me a prediction with glazed eyes, it turned out to be true, and I ended up killing a sixty foot snake that had been hiding under our school. Please be careful._

_Nozomi.'_

Luna gave Hope a rather interesting look.

"What?"

"I also saw you there when he confronted the fox. Something is going to happen soon that will cause you to be present at both events. Something big."

"Were you there too?"

Luna shook her head.

"Only for the second half. He was much older at that time too, and you two were wearing matching rings."

Hope blushed. That could only mean that she and Gaara were going to be married sometime in the future. Or engaged to be married. Strangely, she didn't feel upset about that fact. She felt...happy?

* * *

"_Dear Gaara and Temari_

_Things have gotten weird around here. First Ron's rat went missing, now we find out that he was the real traitor to my family this whole time. Sirius is still on the run, but I did direct him your way, so keep an eye out for a large black dog with blue eyes._

_My friend Luna (who gave that prediction I sent last time) said that I will be joining you for a long term basis very soon, since I was present to meet this 'blond fox in the Leaf'. I have a bad feeling when she said that, like things are only going to get worse here before it gets any better._

_On unrelated news, the training fan I had finally broke after I used it to clobber my poor defense teacher. He had forgotten what night it was and transformed right in front of us without the medicine he uses to stay sane those nights. I hope that whatever drives me to run from Europe isn't too bad..._

_Can't wait to see you again_

_Nozomi.'_

"**Dear Nozomi,**

**While the previous letter was somewhat concerning, we are eager to see you again, no matter what the circumstances are. Temari spotted the dog you mentioned a week ago...it was quite surprising to see it turn into a ragged man wearing what appears to be a prison outfit.**

**Our father isn't aware he's even here, as we hid him in the caves outside the village near an oasis. He doesn't seem to mind so long as we come see him while we train there.**

**Temari actually laughed herself to hiccups when she heard about how you broke your fan. She said it was funny to hear that you did it while hitting someone over the head with it, even if they were wolf-like at the time.**

**I included a passport and a map so you would know where to wait for us to guide you across the desert. Just let us know through an owled mission request that you want us to come pick you up and we'll be there as soon as we can.**

**Eager to see you again**

**Gaara."**

* * *

Hope only had to hear from Luna about the tournament that was about to be held at the school, and she immediately started packing. She had also heard the vision Luna had about her being entered and having the same mad man who killed her parents revived, which only made it even more important that she leave before the school started.

She filled out the paperwork and left it with the goblins to send to the Ministry once she left the country. They couldn't tie her to a school tournament if she changed her schools, she had checked.

Once she reached the nearest city to Suna, she sent out a mission request and got ready. They had plenty of places to get dolled up, and she wanted to surprise Gaara.

* * *

"Baki, you and your team have been selected to escort a rich noblewoman who wishes to live in Suna here. She has expressed an interest in helping our economy grow and possibly adding to our shinobi forces. If she is impressed with us, Temari you will help her to learn how to use a fan in a battle. Do not fail me," said the Kazekage coldly. He neglected to add that the woman asked for them personally.

"Why our team?" asked Temari annoyed. Noblewomen were notoriously annoying.

"She claims that she has heard of your impressive mission ratings and wanted only the best. You have a week to escort her here. Dismissed."

Temari grumbled, but got her pack ready. She did _not_ want to be stuck escorting a noble bitch across the desert and teaching her how to use a flashy fan in a fight. Gaara wasn't happy either, since Nozomi had said that she had left England and he was awaiting her owled mission request. His so called father would have mentioned if the request came in by messenger bird.

Two days later, the team went to the place where the noblewoman was waiting for them. They weren't exactly happy to hear that the 'woman' in question was still in her teens.

Temari went in first, took one look at the girl...and her jaw dropped. Gaara soon followed suit and it wasn't until the girl started laughing outright that they closed their mouths.

It was Nozomi!

She was wearing the kimono they had sent her and her black hair was done up in a simple bun with the comb Temari had helped Gaara pick out.

"You should see the looks on your faces!" she grinned.

"But...how...?" stammered Temari.

"I thought a little surprise would be in order. I never said I would send in my request through messenger bird now did I? And besides, I did come to the spot Gaara recommended!" she said with glee. She had taken a good picture of their gobsmacked faces.

"But what about that load of nonsense about a rich noblewoman? I mean I know you had cash on you and you didn't mind spending it..." said Temari in shock.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself _properly_ this time. My name is Nozomi Belladonna Potter, heir to the Most Ancient and Noble house of Potter. I happen to be the heir to a rather _large_ sum of gold thanks to my father's family," she said with amusement.

"You're...you're an actual noble? But what about those people you were stuck with?" stammered Temari.

"Like I told Gaara when we first met, I wasn't staying with them by choice. A meddling old man forced me to stay there, despite there being better options. It wasn't until I came to Suna that I had any choice of my living arrangements."

"So are you staying this time?" asked Gaara.

"As long as I can possibly manage. I am sick of Europe and the idiots that live there," she said firmly.

Gaara seemed rather pleased by that declaration. At least now he would have someone to talk to again, and he wouldn't have to wait for the reply.

"So before we head back to Suna...who's up for some food? My treat!" grinned Nozomi.

* * *

After a night in the best hotel in the Land of Wind (which Temari enjoyed to the fullest extent) they set off back home. Nozomi had wisely gotten out of the kimono and put on something better suited for travel, and he did her best to keep up with Gaara and the others. Baki was _very_ surprised that she was able to run on the hot sand in the thin shoes she was wearing, yet didn't complain once about scorched feet.

Though he did wonder what was in the long tube on her back.

About halfway to the village, they were attacked by bandits. They had apparently heard of a young noblewoman with deep pockets hiring a single team of Suna ninja, and they wanted to rob them. Apparently they never knew _which_ team she hired, because they were pissing themselves when they came face to face with an annoyed Gaara.

It was Nozomi who surprised them the most, because she took a genuine Muramasa blade and held it to the throat of the leader with a bored expression on her face. It was painfully clear to the man that she knew exactly how to use the sword.

"Now what are you little boys going to do?" she asked in a deadly sweet tone.

"We are going to leave and never bother this area again?" the leader said hopefully. He wasn't an idiot, and one of the men Gaara was holding hostage was his younger brother.

"Start running," she advised. To the surprise of Baki, Gaara _did_ let the teen go, and the bandits scattered to the four winds.

"I'm impressed. I didn't know a noble would actually know how to fight, let alone bother to get their hands dirty alongside the guards," commented Baki.

Nozomi gave him a bored look, checking her blade for any nicks.

"I wasn't raised a noble, and I wouldn't know how to act like one if my life depended on it. I was forced to learn how to live on my own at an early age, so I plan to help out if it comes to a fight. I'm not afraid to spill someone else's blood," she said calmly, replacing her sword.

His respect for her grew. Despite his initial impression, she was actually more like Temari than most of the other noble girls her age. And she could get Gaara to listen to her without arguing, which was only a plus in his book.

They made it back to Suna without incident after that.

* * *

Nozomi couldn't wait to train with her new fan for real. She had definitely surprised the Kage when she requested to join Gaara's team on their missions.

Considering she was paying for a substantial increase in their shinobi forces, he was more than willing to agree to the request. It didn't hurt that she could use some of the more basic jutsu and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty.

Her new home was next door to the Sand Sibling's house, and it had taken little convincing for Sirius to move in with her. As long as he didn't cause any trouble, he was classed as a civilian who kept the house while she was gone.

(He was going to use Hedwig to continue her magic education so she wouldn't be forced to remain half trained.)

Everything was going fairly well for a few months...until Gaara's team was selected to take the Chunin exam.

* * *

"Passports please," said the chunin duo at the gate.

The one with the bandaged nose gave her an odd look when he read the passport status.

"Are you sure you're a civilian?" he had to ask. Nozomi looked like she was a shinobi...chunin level at least. She didn't move like a civilian at all.

She gave him an annoyed look.

"Independent contractor with Suna. A noblewoman who's hobby happens to be ninja arts," she clarified.

"Most noblewomen who play at being ninjas don't carry swords or battle fans," commented the other chunin.

She glared at them, then pulled out something from her wallet. They both paled at the insignia she pulled out, and were quick to drop the matter.

"What did you just do to them?" asked Temari amused.

Nozomi handed over the wallet, and Temari whistled when she saw it. It was a noble's pass to the most exclusive places in the Land of Fire. It was also a notification to even the most uncultured people that she was in fact of noble blood, and had plenty of money to spend. It was made of actual gold and silver, and the engraving practically reeked of money.

"I keep forgetting you're a noble, but it's times like me that remind me of that fact," said Temari.

It was so easy to think of Nozomi as a civilian trained to be a shinobi a little late in her life. She moved like a chunin and had chakra control worthy of a jounin. She never complained about a little hard work, and she bled the same as the rest of them in training. Unlike most nobles her age, she worked for a living and it showed.

Though whenever she was forced to attend noble functions, she acted like someone with actual manners. No pretty words or lies. If she gave her word, she would follow through with it.

She was quite popular in Suna and the capitols.

"So where to first?" she asked.

Their conversation was cut short when a kid wearing an obscenely long scarf bumped into Kankuro. His little friends stood by nervously.

"Watch where you're going brat!" growled Kankuro.

Nozomi slapped him upside the head.

"Drop the kid now, and I won't fill your change of clothes with itching powder again," she growled back.

Kankuro winced, and dropped the kid.

"You alright?"

"Fine."

"Who the hell are you guys?" asked the blond boy the kid had been playing with.

Nozomi paid her full attention to him for one reason. He looked like a fox, and he was a blond. He had to be the one Luna mentioned all those months ago.

"My name is Nozomi, the idiot is Kankuro and she's Temari. They're here for the chunin exams, and I needed a break from the paperwork," she answered.

"Huh...My name's Naruto. How come you're not wearing a headband?"

"Independent contractor. You'd be surprised how many people are shocked to learn I'm not a shinobi. We were about to get something to eat..."

"I know a great ramen place!" said Naruto.

"You coming Gaara?" yelled Nozomi.

Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand, amused. Nozomi's easy going attitude worked wonders on enemy shinobi. They always had this shocked and horrified look when they learned she wasn't actually a shinobi, just someone with a unique gift that didn't mind getting dirty...and the looks they had when they found out she was a noblewoman...

Hilarious!

She carried a camera so she could remember their looks forever. The siblings had a few copies of their favorites.

* * *

Nozomi enjoyed the ramen, and it was easily the best she had ever had. Nothing in Suna could compare to it.

She went to pay the bill (a little shocked at how much this...Naruto...could eat) and she accidentally dropped her pass. The pink haired one, Sakura, picked it up and stared when it fell open.

"You...You're a noble?" she asked in absolute shock. Nozomi took a picture, and accepted the wallet.

"Yup. Prankster too, both of which are from my dad's side of the family," said Nozomi amused. She had another picture for the wall of shocked expressions. It was a fun hobby.

"But you act like a seasoned chunin!" said Sakura.

"Civilian contractor. As far as Suna is concerned I am a mercenary who helps out on missions," said Nozomi taking out a few copies of the shocked faces over the months.

She passed them to Naruto, who was listening with glee at the word 'prankster'. He was laughing hard at the looks.

"I train as hard as the best of them, so who cares what my title is?" asked Nozomi.

Sakura shook her head in disbelief. This girl was _nothing_ like the Fire Daimyo's wife, who was the only noble she had ever seen. Once they parted ways, Nozomi kept an eye on Gaara. She was the only person able to keep his murderous impulses under control.


	4. Chapter 4

"I am _so_ bored!" she complained.

Since she was a civilian contractor, she had nothing to do. They were going to take a paper test, and when she asked, they told her she wasn't allow to join them.

She was better at cheating than half the people there! While she wandered around, she came across an odd woman eating dango like there was no tomorrow.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully. She loved dango as much as Hedwig did.

The purple haired woman raised an eyebrow at her and said "Why aren't you at the exam hall with the others?"

"Civilian contractor...they wouldn't let me take it since I'm not a certified ninja...jerks. Now I'm bored out of my damn mind since I can't legally go into the fun places!"

"Whatever. Leave me alone before I send my snakes after you," said the woman somewhat amused.

Nozomi grinned evilly. So this woman used snakes?

"I'd love to see you try," she challenged.

The woman raised a surprised eyebrow, but brought out one of her poisonous (but not too deadly considering the hospital was right around the corner) and had it go after the girl.

She didn't catch the low hiss, and was quite surprised when the girl reached down and picked up the snake. It slithered around her neck and sat there like a scarf. She nearly choked on her dango in surprise.

"What the...?"

"I happen to _like_ snakes. They don't bother me at all," grinned Nozomi.

The woman stared in shock, barely twitching when Nozomi took a picture.

"Heh...I like you kid. What's your name?"

"Nozomi Potter."

"Name's Anko. Anko Mitarashi the Snake Bitch of Konoha," grinned the woman, holding out her hand.

Nozomi didn't miss a beat, shaking it. The woman's grin widened when she felt actual calluses on the girl. Clearly she wasn't all show.

"So what's with the camera?" Anko finally asked.

Nozomi grinned evilly, and took out her spare copies. Anko started laughing...only to have her own poleaxed look when Nozomi held out her pass. Another picture later, and Nozomi was cheerfully debating dango flavors with her.

* * *

Gaara raised an eyebrow when he saw Nozomi with the crazy woman who broke the window in the exam room. And at the snake around Nozomi's shoulders.

"Right! All you maggots have to do is retrieve a scroll from another team! This will be a free for all, so don't come crying to me if you get your ass kicked or killed!" said Anko with cheer.

"Who's the hottie next to you?" asked the Leaf genin with a dog in his shirt.

"Taken, and if you try to hit on me you'll be sorry," replied Nozomi a little too evilly.

Naruto and Sakura both held in snickers. Kiba would _never_ land a noble with the way he acted. Their teammate seemed bored, but curious as to what they knew about her. She seemed worth his time, unlike the other females who followed him like lovesick puppies.

Gaara twitched. Whoever Nozomi's boyfriend was, he would be in for a nasty shock once he learned _he_ was stalking him. Gaara was nothing if not possessive of his only friend. Temari looked amused more than anything, because she knew Nozomi had the hots for her little brother.

* * *

Anko and Nozomi continued their dango discussion, and then switched to snake types. Anko was very jealous that Nozomi actually knew of a breed that could kill with a glance and whose venom killed every time with no chance of immunity unless you had a certain bird with you. Seeing the scar on her right arm, Anko had to believe her.

She didn't question when the girl went with her to investigate some bodies, and her approval only went up when the girl didn't loose her lunch.

For a civilian contractor, she was able to keep up in the dense forest really well, even at the pace Anko was going at.

It wasn't until they confronted Orochimaru, her old sensei, that things really turned interesting.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALES!" shouted Nozomi. She was so close to Orochimaru that it was impossible for him to dodge. He was so impressed by her snake speaking ability that he had been trying to mark her.

Anko had to stop and stare when her most hated enemy went ramrod straight and fell painfully to the forest floor.

"What in the hell did you just do to him?"

"...Prevented him from giving me what was likely the world's most painful hickey?" suggested Nozomi.

Anko couldn't help the bark of incredulous laughter at that one. Nozomi was her kind of girl...quirky, tough as nails and had the most interesting sense of humor. Plus she liked snakes, which was always a plus in her book.

It was like looking into a mirror.

It was pretty fun taking pictures of the incredulous looks the Hokage and his ANBU gave her when they learned that not only was she a trained _civilian_, but a noble to boot! She promised Anko copies of the photos.

"So who was that freaky, pale faced possibly pedophilia bastard anyway?"

The Hokage coughed in amusement.

"His name is Orochimaru. He's also known as the snake sannin..."

As the Hokage described him, Nozomi's eyes narrowed and her face became positively blank.

Once she left the office, she gave the most amusing request to Anko.

"Mind if we drop by this bastard's cell and kick him in the balls a few times? He reminds me way too much of the bastard that helped to ruin my life."

"Not at all, so long as we compare war stories!" said Anko with a positively _evil_ grin.

After they left, Orochimaru had to wonder when exactly he pissed the girl off, and how the hell Anko found a younger version of herself with jade green eyes. Kabuto would later spend three hours repairing the damage done to the man's lower area.

* * *

"So basically he reminded you of the man who killed your parents? How do you know it wasn't him?"

"He still has a nose doesn't he? Besides, Voldemort can't slither like that, let alone summon such big snakes. Though I have to admit, I did think it was his freaky cousin standing there at first," said Nozomi.

"How did you know it wasn't the same man?"

"Voldemort limits himself strictly to Europe, and he sure as hell doesn't use shuriken or kunai. This...Orochimaru...may have looked like him, but some parts of his personality didn't match. Besides, Voldemort could snake speak too, and Orochimaru didn't understand a word of parseltongue."

"So continue...why do you hate old men with beards?"

Nozomi explained about Dumbledore...and his annoying spell that made practically _everyone_ in her school think she was a boy, despite the fact that she had breasts.

The more she talked about him, the more Anko wanted to gut the man. Especially when she described the Dursley family. If he ever came to Konoha, he would find a cold welcome.

* * *

Gaara was somewhat surprised to find Nozomi tackling him in a warm hug. It was...nice.

"Thanks to you Gaara, I just won over 1,500,000 ryo from the Konoha jounin!"

The other two stared at her. She was actually hugging Gaara.

"How did you manage that?" asked Temari, staring.

"I bet you three would make it to this tower in under two hours. With 15 to one odds, I made a killing."

"You bet on us?" asked Gaara.

"It was a sure win, because I know you. You would want to get this boring test over as soon as you could!" smiled Nozomi.

Gaara was a bit surprised that someone had such faith in his abilities. Temari and Kankuro were in shock that someone was hugging him and his sand still hadn't made a single motion to remove her.

If anything, Gaara seemed rather relaxed with Nozomi's arms around his neck.

"So...anyone up for poker?" suggested Nozomi, grinning.

* * *

"Dammit Nozomi, will you quit cheating?" complained Kankuro. They had been joined by a few other genin teams, mostly from the Leaf.

"I kept telling you doll boy, I don't need to cheat. Besides, what the hell makes you think I do?" she retorted.

"Five straight wins?" he said glaring.

"Kankuro, she hasn't been cheating. Either shut up or I will kill you," said Gaara. Kankuro was still in disbelief that Nozomi was practically in his lap, yet he didn't react.

"And you! Since when do you let people touch you?" he complained. He had to deal with Gaara's threats of death for years, and yet this girl was able to handle him so easily! It wasn't fair dammit!

"I feel sorry for her boyfriend. Red there looks like he would kill anyone who tried to come close to her!" snickered Kiba.

Temari leveled a very amused look at him.

"That would be difficult," she snorted.

"Why is that, Temari?" asked Gaara annoyed.

"Because in case you haven't noticed, the only boy she spends any time with alone is _you_," she answered.

She had the great pleasure of watching the wheels in his mind turn, and the pole axed expression just made her day. Nozomi handed her the camera, and Temari made sure to catch the expression before he went back to his usual stoic self.

"So...another hand anyone?" asked Nozomi. They had been playing for training scrolls.

"I'm out. When my mom learns I lost one of our clan training scrolls to a foreigner, she's going to kill me," said Kiba.

"Does it help that I'm a civilian?" asked Nozomi.

"Not really."

"...Would it help if I said that I traded it for a rare breed of dog?"

"It would depend on the dog," said Kiba.

"How about one with three heads and is supposed to have guarded the gates of hell according to the myths?"

Kiba and everyone stared at her.

"What the hell kind of dog is that?" he asked, voicing the question on everyone's minds.

"A Cerberus. A mythological dog from Greece that has three heads and is excellent at guarding places. You calm it down by playing music, which puts it to sleep," she said, as if reciting from a book.

Kiba stared at her. She was actually serious about that?

"With a dog like that, my mom might even be willing to trade one of our clan hounds..." he said in shock.

"I can have it here in a week," she said cheerfully.

* * *

Nozomi acted fast. Gaara's bloodthirst was kicking in, and she was the _only _person in Suna who could stop him without getting killed for it. No one had been able to understand how or why that was.

"Gaara stop it!" she cried out, placing herself in front of Lee. The boy was badly injured, but not so bad that his ninja career would be harmed.

The sand kept coming...until it abruptly stopped a good two inches away from maiming her. She didn't budge and slowly the sand began to retreat.

"Mother wants to taste his blood..." rasped Gaara. His mind was only barely coherent enough to recognize her. Nozomi walked up confidently to Gaara and gave him a light knock on the head.

"Mother will have to wait," she said firmly.

Gaara stared at her with the most terrifying look on his face...before he pouted. He didn't know how Nozomi could do things like that to him, but he really didn't care. She was the only person who didn't want him to get killed or fear him.

She beamed at him, and he reluctantly went with her to the balcony. Lee had been taken to the infirmary by his teacher, a frightening man named Might Gai. Just looking at him made her skin crawl.

Kankuro couldn't help but stare when Gaara laid his head on her shoulder...and apparently fell asleep. Yet another odd occurrence about Nozomi.

* * *

"Here you go Ms. Potter. One Cerberus pup. You sure you know how to handle this little fella?" asked the exporter.

"I'm trading him to a family that deals with large wolf-dog hybrids. If anyone knows how to handle massive canines it's them. Thanks."

"Just don't come crying to me if you can't handle him."

"I don't cry."

"Excuse me, is this the Inuzuka clan compound?"

Hana looked up to find the same girl who helped Anko take out Orochimaru. She didn't look like an Anko clone...

"Yes. Has my brother been bothering you too?"

"Not at all, just here to prove something to the idiot."

"What was it you needed to prove?" she asked, curious.

"You might want to get him for this. You wouldn't believe me otherwise..."

Kiba came to the front of the house to find Nozomi waiting.

"You asked me to prove that I could in fact get one, so I did. Prepare to pay up little boy," she said grinning.

It took a moment for that to sink in.

"You're shitting me. You actually have...?"

She reached into the box to pull out something that had Hana staring in absolute shock. Nozomi took another picture.

"This is the puppy I was talking about little boy. A genuine Cerberus straight from Greece."

The head on the left yawned cutely, before going back to sleep. It was under a sleep spell, and would remain so until Nozomi removed it.

"What the hell is going on here?" demanded Tsume. She heard from the guard dogs that something interesting was happening in the front of the house, and went to investigate.

Her jaw dropped when she saw the three headed puppy in Nozomi's arms.

_Another picture later..._

Nozomi didn't mind the talking dogs, or the fact that Kiba was looking like he was so doomed. It amused her.

The Inuzuka clan was naturally very interested in the three headed pup. Once she broke the sleep spell, it acted like any other puppy...that needed some coordination training. Hana had to check to see if it was an actual dog though.

It took some doing, but eventually Tsume came up to an agreement both parties could live with. Nozomi traded the puppy for one of the Inuzuka hounds. It didn't hurt that Nozomi had Kuromaru, Tsume's personal hound rolling on the floor with his tail wagging. He was particularly hard to please.

Nozomi walked out of the Inuzuka compound with a new puppy and a few training manuals. Hana even agreed to help her train the pup so it could aid her in battle. A particularly successful venture to be sure.


	5. Chapter 5

Nozomi had to admit, for once things were really looking to turn interesting.

She had spared the man who proctored the last part of the exam from Baki's wrath by distracting him with something that would permanently cure his cough. A quick trip to the hospital and a promise to personally brew the cure along with sharing the recipe, and Hayate was cured. For the first time since his teen years, he didn't feel the need to cough.

His girlfriend couldn't be happier.

Baki wasn't happy that she had spared an enemy, but then again she had been against the invasion plan from the start. Like she had pointed out to the Suna council, with her backing them they had started to recover from the hit the Wind Daimyo had given them nearly fifteen years ago. The fact that ten percent of mission fees was given back to her as payments to the funding she was giving them was never mentioned.

Considering she was the only noble that actually trained in the shinobi arts and fought (not to mention bleed) the same as the rest of the forces never factored into it. As far as the shinobi in Suna were concerned, Nozomi was an independent shinobi who worked alongside them. The fact she didn't wear a headband of any sort never bothered them in the slightest.

* * *

Nozomi grinned, and went back to training with her new pup Fenrir. It was a fierce little runt with absolutely _massive_ paws for a dog his size...hence the name. Tsume had a good laugh when Nozomi explained about the legend of Fenrir and Tyr, and agreed if any of their hounds fit that description it was that pup.

After watching at how Nozomi treated animals (Hedwig had come along because Konoha was somewhat easier to live in than Suna, and the squirrels were delicious!) she was more than happy to trade with her. The fact that she wasn't even the slightest bit intimidated by Kuromaru (who had made lesser nobles faint more than once with his scowl) was only a plus in her book.

Fenrir was eager to train more. Unlike most of the other Inuzuka breed hounds, Nozomi put him through his paces every day. It helped that she had more time to train compared to the regular shinobi. The only thing she actually _did_ all day was go through paperwork her great-grandfather's company sent her as the Executive CO. She had all final say in products made and distributed in both regular and magical worlds.

Her endorsement of the Weasly Twins prank shop (it had taken little convincing for them to spill about their plans once they graduated) was a massive success, and the twins were already earning more money than their father did in a month.

Production was of little concern to them, since Nozomi was more than happy to open up one of her secret potion labs and the assistants that worked there just for them. The cash that came from that avenue more than made up for the cost of supplies.

Fenrir sat outside with Gaara, since Nozomi was heading to the bathhouse after a rather long training session...

* * *

Nozomi entered the famed bathhouse of Konoha, only armed with her custom wand. She had snapped the first one the moment the papers went through with her transfer to home schooling. She had paid for the wand to be delivered to Dumbledore on Halloween, with the note that said _**'No more senseless death'**_.

Before she set a single foot into the water, she heard something with her 'Dursley-hightened' senses. Someone was giggling like a pervert...and he was a little too close to an innocuous hole in the fence for her taste.

She threw out her hand, drawing her wand with one smooth motion, and cast the _levicorpulus_ spell.

With a yelp, an old man with long white spiked hair wearing a headband with the kanji for oil, was hauled up unceremoniously by his ankle.

The girls all screamed as Nozomi growled.

"It seems we have a pervert watching us. Anyone up for target practice?" she called out.

As one, the kuniochi (and some of the regular housewives close to them) drew kunai and shuriken and prepared to aim.

The man's eyes grew wide...and he narrowly missed getting hit by the multitude of sharp pointy objects by twisting rather nimbly while his ankle kept him suspended in the air. Once she let him go, he got his ass kicked and was eventually taken to the hospital with multiple broken bones and a bruised rib. He would remain in the hospital for an entire week before leaving.

* * *

Nozomi ran into Naruto laughingly retelling how his newest sensei ended up in the hospital after getting caught peeping at the hot springs.

He was under the impression that the man completely deserved it for ditching him during training.

Nozomi laughed heartily, and joined him.

"Chicken ramen, two bowls please! Beating up the pervert that tried to peep on me worked up an appetite!" she said grinning.

Naruto turned to her with sparkly eyes.

"You were the one who caught Pervy Sage? You have to teach me that trick! I can only get him to train me using my Oiroke no jutsu!" complained Naruto.

Nozomi finished her first bowl, then grinned evilly at him.

"Would you happen to know the room number of this...pervy sage?" she smirked.

Naruto looked at her before grinning.

"If you're planning a prank..."

She looked at him.

"Can I join in?" he begged.

Her cackle was all he needed to hear before the two finished their ramen bowls and went to terrorize a sannin...

* * *

Jiraiya was _not_ having a good day. First his peeping was interrupted by an odd jutsu from the foreign girl, then he gets beaten so badly that he can't move for a week! It wouldn't be too bad except all his nurses were old ladies and married!

His newest (and only student since Minato) showed up grinning at him, and he knew something bad was going to happen because he had a camera.

Then the kunoichi who had initially caught him with that odd jutsu walked in grinning like Anko. He started to sweat bullets.

"Well, well, well... So this is the same pervert I caught peeping. I don't envy you in the least fox boy," said the girl.

"He's the only one who was willing to train me for the month. Though why I keep attracting _perverts_ for sensei I will never know..." he grumbled.

The girl looked at him closer.

"Huh...I was wondering what that curse on you was. Seems someone slapped you with a pervert-attracting curse for some reason..."

She drew the same stick she aimed at him, and said _"Finite_."

"It should be gone, though if you keep attracting them let me know. Perhaps a curse breaker I know would be willing to take the case. I know a pair of twins who would love the spell though."

"Who the hell are you? And what was that jutsu you used?" he rasped.

Now that he had a closer look at her, she was very pretty, and would grow to be a real beauty once she grew out. She was almost a 'C' cup at the moment, yet she looked like she barely weighed 150. she was at least a good half foot taller than Naruto was, even though she barely looked about 14 or 15. Her jade green eyes were like the gems they resembled, and held a definitive intelligence. All in all she looked like a noble's daughter, though she moved like a seasoned kunoichi of about chunin level.

He could even see the calluses on her hands, and most of them looked like the ones shinobi got from hard training.

"My name is Nozomi Potter. And that wasn't a jutsu."

"Bull. That had all the earmarks of a jutsu, only I didn't see a single handsign," said Jiraiya.

Her smirk grew.

"So I take it you didn't notice the stick of about 14 inches long and polished to a shine?" she asked amused.

He had, but he had dismissed it entirely as a threat. The only sticks that would cause him problems were...

His jaw dropped.

"A witch?! HERE?!" he gasped in horror. Witches and Wizards were notorious for their dislike of shinobi, and at one point they had tried (and failed spectacularly) to monitor and regulate the jutsu that was used.

After that, the shinobi wanted nothing to do with them, making them pay through the nose just for a mission. It didn't help that their attitude was just as crappy as their rules.

For a witch to be walking around the village without a single ANBU and the shinobi up in arms...

It was practically _unheard _of.

She scowled.

"Yes I am a witch. But that doesn't mean I find the automatic need to look down on everyone without magical blood. One of my favorite uncles is a werewolf for Kami's sake!"

He relaxed slightly. Werewolves were just barely above the shinobi on the popularity totem pole the wizards had.

"Besides, the Suna council would probably care less that I am a witch, since I am backing their shinobi forces and getting my hands dirty with the rest of their shinobi population," she said dryly.

His eyes widened.

"You're the mystery benefactor that appeared in Suna four months ago? But that would make you a..."

Naruto took his queue and snapped a photo of Jiraiya's pole axed expression. He could see why Nozomi insisted that he take the picture, because she was snickering too hard to take a good one at the moment.

"I am from a noble _wizard_ line. I had the cash to back it up and with my looks no one was going to contest it. As far as the Elemental countries is concerned, I'm an independent contractor who happens to have noble blood, enough cash to fund myself, and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty and killing others."

"Who cares what her bloodline is like! Nozomi is awesome!" declared Naruto.

She was one of the few people who treated him like a regular shinobi, and when he tentatively heard her opinion on people with demons in their bodies, he had mentioned the fox to her. She wasn't surprised, but she certainly didn't hold it against him, even giving him a hug. For that she was his favorite noble.

Plus she didn't mind paying for his ramen.

* * *

"I don't get why you decided to fund Suna of all places..." said Jiraiya once he was out of the hospital. She was talking to him while Fenrir trained Naruto in dodging. It served the dual purpose of wearing him out enough for the summoning training Jiraiya had him on.

"Oi! You almost hit me Fenrir! Aim at the blond!" she called out, barely dodging a stream.

"HEY!" yelled Naruto. He had been blissfully unaware of the Inuzuka _marking_ method until now.

"It was the first of the Hidden villages I had ever been to, and I had already established a friendship with the Kazekage's children, not that I knew that until Temari mentioned it off hand. Besides, Gaara was nicer than my cousin was, and I could handle the heat fairly well," she shrugged.

"So both of the older siblings have copies of my work?" he said, deciding to change the subject.

"Gaara and I don't. Your fifth rate porn is so poorly written _Naruto_ could have written it," she said scathingly. She had heard about his dislike of paper tests, and had seen his intelligence level.

Jiraiya looked offended, so Nozomi cheerfully elaborated what she meant.

"Tell me, who the hell does the proofreading for your work?"

He looked confused, but admitted he did it himself. No one was able to do it without bleeding all over the paper, and it was such a hassle getting it out.

"That explains it. Your work is half assed at best and your plots are so full of holes you could through a kunai through it and it wouldn't even touch the edge. The porn itself is like a blurred out hentai video. All fluff but no real action."

She looked at him hard.

"Tell me, when was the last time you actually got laid?"

Jiraiya sputtered. This was the last thing he needed to hear from a girl barely fourteen!

She nodded in satisfaction.

"Quite some time then, by that reaction. I'm guessing you get most of your inspiration from peeping on girls in hot springs?" she asked annoyed.

Jiraiya said nothing, but his silence spoke volumes.

She shook her head in amusement.

"_Summoning Jutsu!"_ Naruto called out. Fenrir was laying next to her, panting. She had given him a good exercise, even if she couldn't join in.

Naruto looked so disappointed when he barely got a frog out of tadpole stage.

Nozomi decided to do something constructive.

"Naruto, can you go through the hand signs one more time? Maybe I can see where you go wrong," she suggested.

Naruto did it slowly and she stopped him halfway.

"Your dragon seal is out by your left hand pinky. What are the signs for this jutsu again?"

Jiraiya told her, and she ran through them slowly enough for the boy to copy her exactly. She stopped him twice, and then had him repeat. He did it slowly, and this time did it right.

"_Summoning Jutsu!"_ he called out.

This time he got a proper frog, this one a bit small but still properly formed.

"It seems you were placing your hand out of order slightly, which is why it kept going wrong."

Jiraiya stared. He hadn't even caught that, and it took fifteen minutes for her to figure out what he was doing wrong?

"How about tomorrow we practice your hand signs so you can do all your jutsu correctly?" she suggested.

"You got it nee-chan!" said Naruto cheerfully.

Nozomi liked Naruto's innocence. He attached himself to anyone who gave him even a little attention, particularly when it involved shinobi training.

Fortunately for the blond, Nozomi was one of those people who took loyalty so seriously that she never even considered betrayal unless the person was no longer considered a friend. In that scenario, she would personally correct the person or kill them. Ever since she learned what really happened to her parents, she took betrayal horribly. Anyone who hurt her that way would quickly find themselves on the wrong side of someone not afraid to kill, depending on the transgression.

It was a miracle the hat didn't sort her into Hufflepuff with that mentality, but alas he saw her desire to get stronger over her more dominate traits.

She still cursed its decision to place her in a house full of people who valued bravery and ability in the sports department over people she could actually trust with her secret. The day she learned about the spell that made her look like a boy and the name Harry, she decided to only spill the truth to people she knew wouldn't turn it against her.

Sadly that small group at the moment (magical community wise) was Neville, Luna and the Twins. Everyone else would happily talk about her behind her back. She was sick of it all.

* * *

A few days later Naruto was able to summon the boss toad after a few tries, to the shock of Jiraiya. And this was before he accessed the fox's chakra at the time. Apparently the entire problem he had been having before was his hand signs.

Of course Gamabunta was a bit eager to learn of Nozomi, the only witch currently operating out in the open in the Elemental countries. Her kind in this part of the world was rare enough, let alone one living here full time.

Hearing her tales of Trevor the toad, Gamabunta didn't mind giving her some advice on how to keep him from running off.

She had the sneaking suspicion that if Neville ever ran into the toad clan, he would be welcomed with open arms. It wasn't his fault no one ever explain how you were supposed to take care of the things, and his genuine love of the creature went a long way in his favor.


	6. Chapter 6

_Meanwhile, back in Europe..._

Things had quickly taken a turn for the worse the second it became clear that Hope had left them. Ron and Hermione were quickly exposed by Neville and the twins as traitors to their supposed best friend, and the entire Gryffindor House had turned their backs on them for selling out one of their own, even if it_ was_ to the Headmaster.

If they were willing to sell out the savior of the Dark Lord to someone like Dumbledore, then what was to stop them from doing the same to a Death Eater?

As a result, Neville quickly found himself filling in Hope's position as the Leader of the Lions, especially when it became clear that he was one of the few people she remained in contact with.

None of them ever mentioned the fact that 'Harry' was in fact 'Hope' though.

Luna was making her own arrangements with her father to move to the Elemental countries. While Suna was a bit too hot for them, Konoha sounded just like their cup of tea. Hope had promised to meet them at the borders and introduce them to the Village. She had already established friendly relations with several clans that would make the transaction much smoother.

Neville still had to convince his grandmother to allow him to move in with Hope, though he would be given his own apartment above hers. The twins would remain as her contact with the Magical communities, since they were responsible for over half of her imported potion stock.

The tournament that Luna had Seen had in fact come to pass, but Dumbledore was left holding the bill when it was brought to light through the goblins that Hope Potter had said enough and registered herself as 'home schooled' right before she even bothered to open her letter. As a result, the Ministry couldn't touch her and she could do as much magic as she wished. So long as she sent in regular reports of her progress under her tutors, they could care less.

As a result, Dumbledore couldn't very well claim a _fourth_ champion when there were only supposed to be three. Needless to say the other headmasters were quite amused because his so called Golden child had outwitted him deliberately.

The Minister was still angry over that, since Hope had more political clout in her little pinky than he had ever been able to create over the years as Minister. He considered himself lucky that she had yet to find that fact out, or he would be out of a job the moment he annoyed her. (HE IS SO DOOMED! *cackle~*)

Hope had stirred up a doxy nest by leaving without a notice of why, and she intended to stir things up even more once she came out in the open with her potential boyfriend...

* * *

Nozomi lay on the Fourth Hokage's head and enjoyed the sunset. Naruto had recommended the spot in thanks for helping his training. According to him, she was the first girl his age who bothered to help with his training and didn't hit him for asking questions. When she asked what he meant by that, he told her about his teammates.

Nozomi wasn't too impressed by them at all. A teammate so desperate for revenge that he missed out on his friend's help and another who was such a fangirl that she would willingly sabotage her friend's training just to impress the other.

Sakura Haruno was going to be in for a rude awakening when Nozomi was through with her. Anyone that hurt a fellow teammate just because they didn't know something clearly had issues. And that voice reminded her painfully of a banshee.

Naruto was like the annoying little brother that you had to be cruel to hate. The boy was a veritable bundle of sunshine that never let anything get him too down.

She treated him like a duckling, and he repaid it a hundred times over with his smile. It was pretty damn obvious that he had very few people in his life willing to put things down and help him when he really needed it.

Somehow she had the nasty feeling Naruto was under a similar prophecy that she was under...which she only knew about because Luna had mentioned it to her offhand last year.

She sat up when she felt someone walking up behind her.

It was a teen with glasses and gray hair. Something felt very off about him. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to feel what felt so wrong.

Then she caught it. It was the aura. It was so similar to Ron's every time she got a little more popular.

Jealousy...and betrayal. That combination was enough to make her hate this man more than she did Dumbledore for trying to ruin her life.

"Speak fast, or die slowly," she snarled.

Slightly surprised by that response, he spoke quickly.

"Kazekage-sama is a bit concerned about your...connection to the blond brat. He was under the impression you were with him on the invasion..."

She gave him a flat look.

"I've heard better lies from an inbred moron who was more concerned about his food than he was about grades. The real Kazekage knows I was against the idea of invasion from the start, and he doesn't bother to control my actions. Which means you are working for a third party..."

She sniffed the air (her nose had improved greatly since working with Hana and Fenrir) and her eyes narrowed even more.

"You work for the pedophile with a snake obsession. If you don't want to end up a bloody smear on the ground below, run. Because I won't hesitate to kill you," she said coldly.

In that moment, Kabuto saw his death. And he had two options.

Stay and fight the noble girl with the bare minimum of shinobi experience and a Muramasa blade...or inform his master that the girl was a bigger liability and let him deal with it.

Somehow he got the impression Orochimaru wouldn't be too happy having to fight the girl for him, even if he _did_ want to mark her. He drew his kunai...and found himself hit by a red light that he couldn't avoid.

* * *

He woke up an hour later to find himself in a jail cell with the worst person possible...Anko Mitarashi. She had in her hands a vial of clear liquid...and her expression was absolutely cruel. In that moment he had no doubt that she was his master's former apprentice.

Someone behind him held his nose, forcing him to open his mouth, which Anko placed three drops of whatever the hell was in the vial onto his tongue.

The effect was immediate. His eyes became glazed and he could no longer control his body. The poison or whatever it was took full control.

"Who are you working for?"

"_Orochimaru-sama..."_

Anko's expression grew cold. Here was the bastard that spied on their latest genin and enabled Orochimaru to mark Sasuke.

"What is your purpose?"

"_To supply proper medical care to his troops and assist with any and all experiments he and his associate require of me."_

The person behind him spoke up.

"Who is his associate, and what do you know about him?"

"_His associate is Danzo, the Leader of Root. He was partially responsible for the death of Kushina Uzumaki, as well as assisting the former leader of Ame. He has also killed one of Jiraiya's former students..."_

As Kabuto listed all the crimes Danzo had committed, Nozomi made sure her tape recorder was on the entire time. Sometime during the interrogation, the Hokage came in and upon hearing some of the things Kabuto spoke of, ordered Danzo's arrest.

Some of the things Kabuto mentioned was information about what was _really_ under the old war hawk's bandages. That alone would get him killed.

At some point during the monotone interrogation, Nozomi was able to slip more of the mystery liquid into his mouth. The first dose had worn off, and the second took effect before Kabuto could do anything about it.

By the time he got to what Orochimaru had just done to the Kazekage, Nozomi looked worried. The third half of the exam was about to take place the next day.

Once they had gotten all they wanted, Kabuto was thrown into an isolated cell with only trusted ANBU guards watching him. Nozomi made sure to test them with the liquid before they were allowed anywhere near him, after learning Root had infiltrated ANBU.

Yugao was more than happy to submit to the light questioning.

* * *

"Baki, Gaara, we have a serious problem," said Nozomi.

"What happened? You were gone for hours," rasped Gaara.

"The Kazekage has been replaced by a fake. I just got confirmation from the same spy Baki talked to before I kept that jounin from interfering," she said calmly.

"What?!"

"Orochimaru of the Sannin killed the Kazekage and is currently hiding like a wolf in sheep's clothing to kill the Hokage. If you don't believe me, you can send Gaara to get confirmation about the invasion just in case."

Baki stared at her, but decided to do just that. If there was anyone who could tell the difference, it was Gaara. He had studied how to kill his father the first chance he had for years, and he knew all of his little quirks.

Gaara walked right past the guards...and ten minutes later confirmed that was not his 'father' wearing the Kazekage outfit. Though the only claim the man had on that particular title was the fact that he made up half of Gaara's genetic makeup. Not even Nozomi was going to stand in the way of his retribution.

Her view on making children weapons was a pretty simple one. If you were stupid enough to do it, you deserve whatever nasty karmic payback came back to bite you in the ass. She personally couldn't wait to see how Dumbledore got whatever fate had coming to him. It was part of the reason she got into taking pictures all the time.

"So what do we do? We can't very well continue this stupid farce if the man behind it isn't the real Kage..." said Temari.

"Or...and this is just a thought...we pull a double cross on the man trying to ruin the village. I won't have Suna burned to the ground because of a personal vendetta by a bastard who likes to mark little boys..." said Nozomi firmly.

"Does he remind you of the old one?" asked Gaara.

"Actually he reminds me far too much of the psychopathic bastard that lead the traitor who killed my parents...and proceeded to ruin my life, albeit indirectly. Not my fault he couldn't aim the jutsu right..." she admitted.

"So what are we going to do?" demanded Kankuro. He would have gone through with the plan (which after Nozomi explained it in terms an idiot would understand sounded pretty bad) if the Kazekage had ordered him to.

But if the man who pretended to be their father was an imposter with a grudge, all bets were off.

"I say we turn on the Oto twits. The way they looked at us behind our backs made my skin crawl," said Nozomi with a shudder. It was clear where the balance of power was in that village, and it wasn't the girls.

And suddenly Gaara became a hell of a lot more stab happy. Any Oto nin that came near him at the moment was in for a painful death.

If there was one thing that was guaranteed to get him in a murderous mood these days, it was a threat to the only girl who liked him enough to ignore the demon entirely and see him for himself. The only female he ever knew who could actually relax around him completely enough to fall asleep and not wake up if a kunai flew at her in the dark with him next to her. (That had happened once and the man was dead before the kunai landed.)

It was pretty obvious to Temari what was going to happen in a few years, and frankly she couldn't wait to see the show. At least she knew for a fact that the feelings were the same between them and that Nozomi would never hurt her little brother.

Homicidal or not, Gaara was her brother and he was protective of her in his own way. Kankuro just annoyed him more. The fact was that on more than one mission Gaara had actually saved her life, not that anyone noticed that fact. His sand shield did cover her occasionally, and he made fewer death threats against her than he did to their brother.

"You know we're going to need an interim Kage after this mess, right?" said Nozomi.

Baki looked at her like she was crazy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Basically we'll need someone to take control of the seat until a new Kage can be elected, otherwise they'll be overwhelmed by the paperwork that comes with running a village. They can take command during war time, but it would be the jounin who make the final call..."

As Nozomi explained her idea, the more Baki liked it. It would give them the protection of a Kage while insuring that only someone qualified would actually receive the title and the job. The Fourth Kazekage was a good jounin, there was no question about that, but his qualifications for the Kage position _were_ lacking. It was the secret suspicion of the jounin that the man was directly or indirectly responsible for the economic depression.

"Anyway, I plan to help get the economy back up once we get back," said Nozomi.

"How?"

"I've been laying heavy bets since this event started. If I do that with the nobles, who are guaranteed to lay million ryo bets at a time, I can land enough cash to help stimulate the economy and get us back on top."

Baki nodded. It was a sound plan. And Nozomi had always been fair about helping them get the Suna village economy back to the way it was.

They ran, spreading the word quietly that the Kage had been killed, and sending scouts to confirm it. A few jounin had been aware of the route they were taking.

Within hours the report was confirmed. Their Kage was dead...and an imposter had taken his place.

The counter act on their so called 'allies' would begin on Nozomi's signal. She had landed a spot watching the 'Kage' and would help the Hokage take him down if needed.

* * *

Nozomi laughed a little when she watched Naruto skid into the stadium. She had seen the bulls chasing him from the box.

Before she went to her spot, she had laid several 100 million ryo bets against the other nobles (who knew she was good for it) on who the winners would be.

So far she had 10 to 2 odds for Naruto to win his match, five to one for Kankuro to lose his, 14 to 5 odds for Temari to win and she hadn't bothered to lay any for Gaara. She suspected the imposter would act before the final round at least.

As she stood there, she observed the fake Kage. The man had several nervous ticks on the side the Hokage couldn't see, and he kept glancing at her with a look that made her skin crawl. She couldn't wait for the invasion to take place so she could strangle him.

Nozomi grinned as Naruto won at the last second. She left a quick shadow clone so she could collect her winnings. The nobles grumbled, but most didn't because they joined her bets. She had an eye for winners, according to them.

When the next fight started, she returned with food. The Hokage grinned at her openly as she shared a bowl of ramen with him. The fake gave her a dirty look, but accepted the dango with grace. Clearly he caught the hint that she knew he was fake and wasn't happy about it. It was common knowledge in the village that his former apprentice had an obsession for dango.


	7. Chapter 7

Baki waited with his team, ready to strike back at the traitors. While they waited, they discussed Nozomi's idea. And quite a few of them were all for it. She had proven herself to the upper shinobi ranks as being a competent leader and a strong ally. Her skill with mathmatics had made it possible for them to start the road to recovering, and she had paid for the upgrades of more than one shinobi, even helping them buy new weapons.

"So what do you think? Should we have her take care of the Kage position until someone we can trust takes the position?" asked Baki.

"I don't see why not. Girl's got a good head on her shoulders and she has a knack for making allies. Is it true that she's going to help fund the recovery effort with her winnings?"

"I don't see why she wouldn't. The girl has all that ryo in the bank and she has no use for it aside from everyday expenses. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's seen her frequent the training grounds perfecting her techniques when others were resting," said another.

They all nodded. Nozomi was infamous for being a noble who took her shinobi training very seriously. She was practically a chunin in rank yet the only thing that kept her from wearing the vest was the fact that she was a noble, and the laws said that nobles couldn't be shinobi.

Have training in the shinobi arts yes, but they couldn't be shinobi. Though with how strong Nozomi was they were quite willing to make an exception and allow her to at least wear the vest...

Baki left to head to the arena. As his team was the only one to make it to the finals, he had to make an appearance. He could be forgiven not showing up since the first round was the loud blond Nozomi had been seen chatting with all month.

* * *

Nozomi happily cheered on her friends. Temari had given a good fight, and she won only because the pineapple kid forfeited at the last possible second. From the way Temari acted afterwords, it looked like she was interested in him.

She looked at the Hokage and asked "Want anything from the concession stands? I have winnings to collect!" she asked grinning.

"More Ichiraku's, if you don't mind and a bottle of sake," he said pleasantly.

"Coming right up!"

Nozomi vanished...and reappeared wearing a western maid costume. More than one person got a nosebleed from the sight, and Gaara started taking names of those in the fighter's box. Though even he appreciated the sight...

The fake Kage twitched. He knew for a fact the girl was only interested in the Sand's jinchuriki, so why the hell was she dressed like that?

"Impressive. Though I would like to know where you got that particular costume."

"Made it myself...with a little help from my friend Temari. Last I checked she had one just like it in her closet that is now safe from her annoying brother."

"The red head?" he asked. He could see her brother raiding the closet to see what to get his girlfriend...

"The one with the cat ears. He has a bad habit of stealing her clothes for his dolls," she clarified.

And just like that, any tension from her sudden costume change was diffused when she snapped her fingers and the supposed 'henge' disappeared. In reality she had gotten very good at transformations since she learned what her animal form really was. And she was going to have a lot of fun with it later.

She wasn't surprised when Kankuro forfeited at the last second he could before Gaara got any more homicidal because Sasuke was taking his sweet time showing up.

And when he did show up, she wasn't the only one sweating because of how bloodthirsty her possible boyfriend looked at the moment.

Nozomi was quick to jump into the barrier. It took little time to learn that it wasn't good against apparition, so she could leave with the Hokage at any time and really piss off the pedophile. Anko would be so proud!

Gaara ran off with his sister and brother after getting delivered a blow that actually bled...it would take a little while for Shukaku to come out, but she would be ready for it. Plus she had to coordinate the counter attack on Sound for the trick they played on them.

Revenge would be cold, but painful for them.

* * *

Orochimaru made his move against her first, since he could barely sense more than a chunin's worth of chakra in her. Marking her would take her out _and_ give him an edge against her later.

But something happened that no one them anticipated. The moment he marked her (the Hokage was unable to bridge the gap in time) her lightning scar started to bleed profusely. Without warning, five minutes later both the curse mark _and_ the lightning scar started to scream an unearthly wail...and two different shades were forced out of her body.

One looked like a snake man without a nose and blood red eyes. The other was Orochimaru's soul piece that he injected into each curse mark.

Nozomi was panting heavily, but still standing. She had a good guess what just happened, and she was beyond pissed off at the moment.

She always suspected that something was wrong about her infamous scar, and the goblins had confirmed it. And with two snake bastards warring for an anchoring spot in her body...

The odds of them canceling the other out were quite high. It was the only reason she hadn't disapparated the second that snake started towards her, and she only needed a split second to pull it off these days.

Orochimaru stared for about three seconds before a large fist of feminine wrath descended upon him.

"TOUCH ME AGAIN AND DIE A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE DEATH!" she roared. He started to wonder if she was PMSing at the moment.

(She wasn't, but she was about to start, so the odds still weren't in his favor.)

Sarutobi sweat dropped, and when he had a chance he asked calmly "What exactly do you have against him anyway?"

"He reminds me far too strongly of the Dark Lord Moldy Shorts."

It took a few seconds to translate the nickname, and his eyes widened. Suddenly a lot of things made more sense about her, though it did raise a hell of a lot more questions.

"If it helps, that pervert with the toad fetish already knows what I am, since I used _it_ on him when I caught him in the bathhouse."

Orochimaru, annoyed by all the idle chatter, summoned large snakes to eat her. He was sure that she would think twice about attacking them, because they were easily the size of the ones in the forest of death.

So what happened next really caught him off guard.

Nozomi hissed, annoyed more than anything, and the snake stopped cold. Then it turned to him clearly angry.

"_We cannot harm a Speaker. It is against our laws."_

The snakes vanished, to warn Manda of the fact that there was a Speaker in the Elemental Countries again.

"You little brat. What the hell are you?" growled Orochimaru.

Nozomi grinned evilly.

"My name is Nozomi and I am your worst bloody nightmare you bastard," she said with a mock bow. With a snap of her fingers, her ears vanished from under her hair and a pair of sand colored fox ears appeared on her head. Four tails appeared behind her as well, waving in the wind. The ears were popping out of a rather amusing witch hat. Her hair was placed into a thin ponytail that fell against her sides, held together by a single bun. There was a single green ribbon holding it in place.

Her stick transformed into something more solid, a staff that resembled Sailor Saturn's scythe, only the color was silver. Her outfit changed to something far more appropriate for a battle. The top was skin fitting and easy to move it, and her skirt was short, but not scandalously so. Her shoes were little more than slippers, but they were reinforced with thick soles.

The entire thing was in red and gold.

Orochimaru's eyes widened in comprehension. He had heard of her kind, but he had been unaware that the brat was in fact a witch. The last he checked, they weren't allowed in any of the countries without heavy restrictions. For her to be operating freely...

It would only mean he was in serious trouble.

Nozomi quickly started fighting with more competence than Orochimaru or Sarutobi had ever credited a witch. Then again, she only claimed to be a noble, and Sarutobi heard that she trained as seriously as any true kunoichi.

Nozomi moved like water, and she danced like wind. It quickly became apparently why after Orochimaru summoned two of the three previous Kages. Sarutobi barely stopped the fourth from being summoned.

Nozomi looked physically sick. Using living bodies to summon the dead was a perversion of everything magic truly stood for, which was the manipulation and creation of life. It was the reason she was so good at transformation and jutsu, because she understood and cherished that fact. That was probably why her animal form was that of a desert kitsune, which meant she had a strong tie to nature.

The kitsune form itself had Earth and Lightning affinities to balance out her wind and water. Fire could be attained by a simple mix of wind and lightning. It figured that her magic balanced out her chakra affinities, even if it made using more than two at a time extremely difficult.

She sighed. She could take out _one_ of the Kage, but she didn't want to do the spell twice. It made her skin crawl worse than a pervert watching her with lust did.

"If you had to deal with only one of them, which would you choose?" she asked.

He looked at her seriously.

"The Second. The First has a troublesome wood affinity," he answered.

"Get ready to fight him then," she said, looking at the Second calmly. Her KI rose to a new height as she leveled her scythe at him.

"I'm sorry. Perhaps now you can rest in peace. _Avada Kedevra._"

The green light narrowly hit him on the arm, but that was more than enough to work. The spell was designed to rob the victim of it's life's energy, or as she understood it, all their chakra at once. Such an attack was fatal for a ninja, but the fact that she had both chakra and magic naturally in her body resulted in her ability to survive it at least once a day. The two energies coexisted, true, but they were kept separate at all times.

Nozomi found her magic coming to her much faster and stronger than before, which made her frown. Did her old scar cause her magic to be forced down? She almost shivered at the thought of having to deal with her chakra in that kind of state.

She heard a loud explosion out in the forest, and glanced. She paused as she saw Shukaku fully formed for the first time. Gaara appeared to still be in control, but only just.

She didn't want to prolong this fight any more than she had to. Her shadow clone from before was leading the Sand troupes against Sound, every so often creating a new clone. She got the memories of the popped ones, so she knew that the battle was in their favor.

It did take some explaining from her to the Konoha nin as to _why_ there were so many Sand shinobi in the Leaf's territory, but because of the fact she had become so well known for curing Hayate and catching the traitor, they didn't question her while a battle was going on.

She had to end this fight with the Second now.

She channeled pure magic in her hand, and thrust it into the man. She didn't expect to find the Sound girl from their lone genin team to survive the second round inside him. Grabbing the girl's shirt, she yanked hard.

The Second looked surprised, but she also saw the distinct look of relief on his face as the technique failed and the girl gasped her first breath of air.

Her chakra system was completely out of whack, and all her gates were open, so Nozomi quickly channeled a good portion of her magic into her.

Something inside the girl answered that power, and the tiny spark of magic present in most shinobi grew from a tiny candle like flame to one the size of her hand. The girl would be in for a long painful recovery, but she would live.

Looking at Orochimaru with disgust, she leveled her scythe at him in anger. Her magic was almost out, she had enough to cast a lasting curse and possibly a single apparition and that was it. She let loose a rather cruel curse that would rot out his insides like acid over the course of a few months. It was from one of the books that belonged to Sirius' family.

Say what you will about the Black family, but they knew how to deal with monsters in human form, as well as traitors.

Sarutobi ruined the man's arms, but not before collapsing. She raced to his side, sharing her chakra so he would survive until his reinforcements arrived.

Orochimaru fled, the pain far too strong for him to handle. The little witch had proven too strong for him to handle without any reinforcements. He didn't even pick up his subordinate. She was useless to him now.

The ANBU retrieved the old Hokage, giving her an odd look. Anger...mixed with respect.

Anger, because of the fact that she was a witch...and respect because she barely managed to hold her own while dealing with a Kage and proving that she wasn't as weak as the others of her kind. She had only resorted to spells to distract while she used jutsu to keep them on their toes.

"I need to make sure Gaara doesn't bring the Shukaku here. Can I trust you to at least keep the girl sedated until a medic nin can figure out how to fix her?"

The leader of the group gave her a look.

"Are we allowed to interrogate her later?"

"Only as long as I am there to observe. I went to a lot of trouble to break that damn thing, I don't want to waste the life I spared for information."

"Fair enough. Go to your friends and see what you can do to help the situation," he allowed grudgingly. It was obvious that the girl used magic as a tool to get things done, not like the end all solution that every other magic user had. For that they were willing to give her a chance.

Nozomi decided to conserve her energy and flew on her Firebolt. It was one of the few things that would identify her to anyone in Elemental countries that she was of magical descent. The wand was easy enough to hide, but brooms were strictly magic based in origin, and not easily overlooked unless you were willing to damage the bristles pretending it had no magic.

She got to the battlefield in time to see the boss toad take his initial charge against the demon. She narrowly avoided the giant bombs of water sent to Shukaku.

"Naruto! Need any help?" she yelled at him.

"Nee-chan! We could use any help we can get against this guy!" he yelled back.

"Mind if I land on your head Gamabunta-san?"

"Go for it. Just be sure to channel some chakra so you don't fall off."

Nozomi did just that, only she used a variant of the sticking charm.

"What's the situation?" she asked seriously.

"Gaara's asleep and that thing is in full control! I was thinking of whacking him a good one to wake his ass up!" said Naruto.

"Hmm...I may have a more devious and definitely less painful way to do it. Can you hold onto the camera through your laughter?" she asked amused.

Her day had been crap since that perversion of a jutsu, and she had the perfect way to prank Gaara and make it a hundred times better at the same time.

"You better believe it! I'm always up for a prank!" grinned Naruto.

"Get me close to tanuki-boy and I'll wake him up pretty damn quick."

"And how do you intend to do that?" asked Gamabunta interested. She whispered her plan to him, and his chuckles boomed throughout the forest. He liked this witch a lot.

"I'll need something to grasp him with...my hands aren't good at holding onto things."

Naruto took a good long look at Nozomi, and an idea occurred to him. She hadn't returned to normal and her ears were twitching.

"I'll do the henge!" he declared. Nozomi had noted with some interest that because he overpowered his henge it turned almost solid. It was enough to fool even a kage.

Soon a large, perfectly formed Kyuubi charged at Shukaku, and when he was able to hold onto the tanuki, Nozomi raced along the arm holding to her broom for stability.

The moment she came to Gaara, she got up close...and kissed him.

Gaara's eyes snapped open in absolute shock...and when Nozomi broke off, he was blushing so hard that his face matched his hair. Naruto cackled while he took the picture.

With the sleep jutsu broken, the tanuki started to break apart. Gamabunta left with his son, leaving only Nozomi and the boys.

Naruto gave Gaara a good right hook...and then snapped him out of his homicidal mindset by telling him that he wasn't alone. Naruto had finished what Nozomi had started the day she first came to Suna.

Nozomi felt like passing out from exhaustion, but not before insuring Gaara got away with his siblings. She could trust Temari to watch over her little brother for her.


	8. Chapter 8

Nozomi awoke in the hospital next to Kin, the girl she spared. There were a few ANBU nearby, but they made no move to do anything but insure that the Sound girl didn't escape. Kin was looking at the wall, still in shock that she was even alive. She knew that her life was probably forfeit, because of who she used to serve.

"You alright?"

"Why? Why did you save me?" she asked, her voice breaking.

Nozomi gave her a flat look.

"Because I wanted to save at least one of you, even if I couldn't save you both. I hate senseless death."

"I'm dead anyway," she said flatly.

"Not if you play your cards right. You do have a choice, even if you don't know it yet."

Anko walked into the room.

"You good to come with us?" she asked Nozomi.

"Let me ask the doctors first, but I'll come with you two even if someone has to wheel me there," she said firmly.

As it turned out, she just had a mild case of chakra exhaustion. She was allowed out and paid for the treatment.

* * *

Anko poured exactly three drops into Kin's unresisting mouth. This was the most painless way to get information, and it was guaranteed accurate as Kabuto and the ANBU had proven. Nozomi was willing to create a trade agreement for the potion with Konoha. Suna already had decent supply thanks to her.

"Name and rank?"

"_Kin Tsuchi, Genin."_

"What was your purpose during these exams?"

"_I was to test the Uchiha for Orochimaru_ (even under veritaserum her disgust of the man was clear)_ and assist in one of his jutsu against the Hokage."_

"What village secrets do you know?"

"_Orochimaru had a few spies here in Konoha and other countries. He has several people from various villages as experiments, including a Kaguya from the Mist. He has at least thirty people with his curse mark able to take it to the second level, and nearly a hundred marked. He leads the village of Sound as their Kage, which has no civilians."_

"What are his forces?"

"_400 hundred genin level, 250 chunin level and 75 jounin. Those with the curse mark are at least chunin level, though most are not trained by anyone but themselves once his interest fades away. He can switch bodies with anyone with a curse mark once every three years."_

As Anko got the girl to talk, her scowl deepened. It was clear that Orochimaru used this girl the same way he used her. Unfortunately the council was still in an uproar when they found out that a _witch_ of all people had saved their Kage. The shinobi council could honestly care less as she had found using mostly jutsu and she had lead the Sand forces rather competently during the invasion by sound. The only reason they even knew she was a witch was the small contingent of ANBU present during the fight with Orochimaru.

If she hadn't saved the old man, she would have been booted out as soon as she could walk. As it stood, they reluctantly allowed her to stay.

Once Kin came out of the potion induced stupor, she looked at Anko with almost dead eyes.

"What will happen to me?"

"To be honest, I have no idea," admitted Anko. They had no place to put her, and they couldn't spare any ANBU to watch her if she decided to defect. Which wasn't very likely.

"...May I offer a suggestion?" said Nozomi.

The two looked at her.

"What do you have in mind?"

"How about I accept responsibility for her once she is able to fight again and make her my personal assistant? It would take her off your hands and keep her occupied. Besides the math I have to do for the company I control is a pain to deal with even with shadow clones handling most of it."

Kin gave her a dead look. This girl had saved her...so she did owe her life to her, despite the fact she was a witch.

Anko had to admit, it was better than what she could do at the moment after the chaos of the invasion. And it solved two problems at once.

"So what happened to your friends?" she asked Nozomi.

"Last I heard, Gaara and the others went back to Suna ahead of me, since your hospital was better equipped. I just need to make it home in at least a month before they start to worry, so I do have some free time."

"She'll be signed off to you as soon as she is able to leave the hospital. If we have to we can send someone to take her to the edge of the desert where you can have one of the Suna teams pick her up," said Anko.

"Sound's fair to me. Somehow I don't think she'll be walking anytime soon."

* * *

It turned out that Kin would be bedridden for another three weeks at least, because of the damage to her body. Nozomi had noted that thanks to her contribution, the girl would be classed as a muggleborn back home. Which meant she had a lot of catching up to do.

Meanwhile, she decided to join Naruto in finding the infamous Tsunade of the sannin. The Hokage had been very impressed by her in the fight with Orochimaru. The fact that she had risked herself to save his life hadn't gone unnoticed either.

Nozomi booked separate rooms while travelling with Jiraiya and Naruto. The blond already looked to her as an older sister, despite only being a few months younger than he was.

Nozomi took one look at the two ninja, and scowled.

"You have five seconds before I scream pedophiles," she growled.

"We don't have any such intentions for the boy. We only seek what he holds inside of him," said the Uchiha.

"Right... why else would you deliberately go to a room with a thirteen year old boy alone?" she asked dryly.

Itachi glared at her. It was bad enough Orochimaru was one of their number once, but to insinuate that they were no better than him was just insulting!

"Could you please not place us on the same place as the snake?" asked Itachi calmly, his eye just barely kept from twitching.

Kisame didn't like the idea of being called a pedophile either. He glared at her.

"Prove to me you aren't like him then," she challenged.

Naruto also gave them an inquiring look. They would have to prove that they weren't like the snake she sent running.

"Fine... 32, 23, 45," said Itachi annoyed.

Seeing their confusion, he threw a magazine at her. She took one look at the centerfold and then at him. She threw it back.

"Fair enough. But what possible reason could you have for fox boy?"

"...You don't need to know," said Itachi, relieved he was no longer being called similar to the snake.

"I'm afraid I do, since he is like a younger brother to me," she said firmly.

Kisame and Itachi wouldn't admit it, but they were impressed by the fact she wasn't even blinking at the sheer level of KI they were directing at her. Naruto had to take a few minutes to get used to it, but even he was calm.

Suddenly a primal yell was heard as Sasuke appeared, baring his canines at the older Uchiha.

"ITACHI!" he screamed, running with Chidori at full blast.

Nozomi got out of the way as Itachi deflected the blast to the wall. She would give the owner a very large tip for the damage...if she couldn't get Jiraiya to do it for her.

She gave the older boy a look and said flatly "You know you're definitely a more decent person than this prick."

He gave her an odd look, but Naruto was quick to join in.

"Yeah, teme doesn't have _any _redeeming qualities aside from that pinwheel thingy!" he declared.

"Whereas the only thing you've threatened to do to him is kill Naruto. Face it, Itachi-san, your brother is a complete idiot and quite possibly gay."

Sasuke glared at her, and spat out a vile word. Nozomi gave him annoyed look, before slapping him aside the head hard.

"First off, thanks to your brother here you no longer qualify as a noble so you have no reason to call me that. Secondly, at least your brother here knows that empty boasts have no place in an actual fight. It seems to me that he is obviously the stronger of the two, and challenging him is just an idiotic move," she said tartly.

She looked at Itachi, who was highly amused by the entire thing.

"Just to let you know, most of the jounins know about the orders the mummy gave you all those years. This brat clearly isn't mature enough to hear the truth," she said to Itachi.

Itachi's eyes widened.

"How do you know...?"

"We captured Kabuto and through him Danzo. Both are scheduled to be executed sometime next month, though the date isn't set. Root has already been disbanded and their ninja are being retrained. Some are even being transferred to Suna since I got them to change at the last second."

Itachi looked at Kisame. He could sense the sannin making his way to the hotel and he was closing fast.

"We can capture him later. Can I trust you to deal with _him_ for me?"

"If you mean giving him a reality check, then sure. But you owe me dango next time we meet and Naruto isn't around."

"...Fair enough..."

* * *

Itachi and his partner left, though Kisame was confused as hell. The girl had chakra that he leeched away, but there was a second power that repulsed his sword.

"What was that about Itachi? We could have taken them!"

"That girl was a witch, a powerful one at that. Magicals can kill with only two words," said Itachi blandly. His mind was racing with the new information. Things were going to change quickly with the arrival of a powerful witch that was accepted in the Elemental Nations.

She knew of the orders to kill the clan, and she could care less. Clearly she had no issue with him, as demonstrated that she was willing to talk.

If he ever finished his secret mission, he had the feeling she would welcome both him and Kisame without batting an eye. She almost reminded him of the Third Hokage in that regard. She didn't care about a person's past, so long as they weren't evil. And she hadn't even raised an eyebrow at Kisame's looks.

"That brat was a magical? I thought they were banned!"

"They are. She must not rely on her magic like the Uchiha did the Sharingan," said Itachi blandly. It was an accurate observation.

"Why hasn't the girl been run out yet? I thought all magicals were pompous idiots who used their kekkei genkai to wipe their own asses!" said Kisame.

"This girl...she is different. didn't you notice her reaction to your appearance?" asked Itachi.

"What reaction... She didn't even bat an eye!" said Kisame in disbelief.

"That girl didn't even care about your odd looks, or the fact that you look like a human shark. Somehow I doubt she would even bat an eye at Zetsu," said Itachi.

That information sank into their minds. Zetsu was the single most disturbing of the Akatsuki and most normal people would look at him strangely because of his appearance. That the girl didn't even look at Kisame strangely spoke volumes.

* * *

Tsunade was the first to admit she was impressed by the girl before her. Unlike Naruto, she was respectful (to a point) and she had the ability to make Jiraiya a punching bag.

Something Tsunade took advantage of with some glee as Jiraiya was beaten the hell out of.

"So you're going to train the very girl that tried to kill the Uchiha brat?" said Tsunade. Gai had shown up fifteen minutes after Jiraiya had, and Nozomi had made sure to use the automatic function of her camera to capture the entire event.

She had already promised to give Tsunade copies of that.

"She has no idea where to take her life since the pedophile abandoned her. Since I saved her life, I feel kinda guilty. Besides, this way I get a trustworthy assistant that I don't have to worry about. Temari is the only person in Suna who even shares decent girl talk!" complained Nozomi.

Tsunade nodded sagely.

"So what sort of boyfriend do you have?"

"She already has one," Naruto piped up.

"His name is Gaara and he's the container for the tanuki demon. You should have seen the looks I got back in Suna when they found out that he never threatened to kill me like everyone else," giggled Nozomi.

"So you're a magical noble huh? I thought they were banned," said Tsunade changing the subject.

"They are, it's just that I originally entered Suna as a civilian and started to learn how to use jutsu, so they never asked if I had magic. Now that it's starting to become well known, the shinobi in Suna could honestly care less. Magic is a powerful tool, but it is a tool nonetheless. If I were to abuse it like the Hyuuga do their doujutsu I'd be no better than the bastards back in Europe."

"What made you leave?" asked Tsunade, honestly curious.

"I got tired of being used by a meddling old man. I don't care about any prophecy that was made before I was born, I intend to live my life the way I want to. Leaving England and becoming an independent contractor for shinobi was just my starting point."

Tsunade rather liked the girl, even if she was one of those arrogant magicals.

Nozomi was sensible and she trained as hard as any kunoichi Tsunade had ever met. She didn't use magic for everything, just as a tool that could be used to get things done when needed. And that alone was enough to make Tsunade like her. The last magical she had a run in was a pale blond who treated her no better than a commoner who was loose with her favors, and that had pissed her off to no end.

Though when Tsunade mentioned said blond, Nozomi had an odd look to her face as she asked "Did this blond have all the personality of a ferret and a cane with a snake handle?"

Tsunade nodded.

"Malfoy. Pretentious prick..." she growled.

"You know him?"

"Know him, pissed him off royally when I freed one of the creatures that serve magicals and foil his plan to ruin his family rivals..."

"What creature?"

"A house elf named Dobby," she said off handedly.

And with a pop, the three turned to find Dobby standing behind her.

"Huh? I didn't know you could appear this far out Dobby!" said Nozomi in shock.

"Mistress Potter called Dobby, so Dobby comes!" he declared proudly.

"I thought you were working in the castle now?"

"Bumblebee tried to order Dobby to find you, but Dobby refused!"

"Well I'm glad to have you on my side Dobby. Think you could help Sirius out? He still hasn't gotten the hang of house work yet..."

"Yes, Mistress Potter! ...Is there any chance you could help Winky? Her masters kicked her out..."

"If you can bring her here, she can join you, how's that?"

Dobby nodded with enthusiasm. Winky wasn't much use since Crouch abandoned her. Perhaps she would finally get out of her funk.

"...What the hell was that about?" asked Naruto, voicing the same thing Tsunade was thinking.

"That... was Dobby, the same house elf I rescued from the pale bastard Malfoy. Boy was he ticked. Magicals treat his kind like little more than slaves, but they like me because I treat them like regular people. If you ever get a house elf, you'll find yourself with someone as loyal as an Inuzuka hound with enough magic to keep even a kage at bay for at least an hour," said Nozomi.

"Fascinating creature. How good are they?"

"They could probably make great medical assistants, and they can clean practically anything. From what I saw they were great at getting blood out of clothes," she commented.

"How do you know that?"

"They're the ones in charge of laundry at the school. I know some of those girls might forget a pad or two during that time of the month, and they always had clean undergarments afterwords..."

Tsunade nodded. Perhaps Nozomi could help her get a few house elves to help her around the hospital? If they could clean blood then she would have infinite uses for them.

Sirius blinked when the house elves showed up, but once Dobby explained that they served Hope he didn't question it. It didn't hurt that Dobby and Winky were nothing like Kreacher...


	9. Chapter 9

Nozomi surprised everyone when she turned into a full on kitsune with four tails...and a fifth beginning to split off.

She growled at the bone boy, who looked at her dispassionately.

"_Come at me if you want to get bit,_" she growled.

Kimimaro went at her with the intent to kill. He had been warned about her wand, though clearly Orochimaru thought her wand was inside the staff the whole time during the last fight. He didn't know she only carried it in places where kunai weren't allowed.

Very few ninja took a stick seriously, which she capitalized on every time.

Tsunade was out for the count, but Nozomi could care less. She could handle a ninja on her own.

"_Shall we dance?"_ she asked.

* * *

_Flashback to the day before..._

Tsunade walked alone, Tonton following her instead of Shizune. Nozomi was working with her dog Fenrir, and from what she could tell the girl would quickly have him working like a fine ninja hound.

Nozomi was a wild card to her.

She was a witch, but unlike any magical she had ever encountered. She fought like a kunoichi, only using her magic like a bloodline tool. She had a bad background because of her relatives, yet she was able to heal even the most broken spirit. She even saved someone on the wrong side of an invasion, and was trying to give the girl a second chance!

Plus there was the owl that appeared during dinner, which had Nozomi giving the letter it carried odd looks.

Tsunade had read it when the girl offered, since her genjutsu skills weren't that good.

She wasn't the only one looking at it oddly.

_'Nozomi Potter_

_As per your suggestion of an interim Kage until a new one could be fairly elected, the council has placed an vote and chosen you. This is based on past and current actions. We expect you back to take control no later than two weeks from next Thursday._

_We hope that you can help us find a worthy successor to the title of Kage, and please note that when one is chosen your position on this council is guaranteed._

_Suna Council.'_

"Is this for real?" asked Jiraiya.

"I recognize the seal. The night before the invasion I made a suggestion that we have someone take the position of Kage so we could recover and find someone who's actually _good_ at the job. The last Kazekage was a decent Jounin, but his skills weren't exactly _up_ to the task. He turned his own son into a weapon for kami's sake!"

"Huh...I didn't know Gaara was the son of the Kazekage," said Naruto.

"So what are you going to do about this?" asked Jiraiya.

"I may as well take the position. It's not like I'm a stranger to paperwork, and once Kin is back to good health at least I have _some_ help. Besides, I know most of the jounin in Suna, so I can at least help them figure out who would be up to the task of running a village," said Nozomi with a depressed cloud hanging over her head.

"Better enjoy this vacation while you can girl...chances like this will be few and far between when you return to Suna," advised Jiraiya.

"Thank kami I got Naruto to teach me shadow clone..." she said.

"Why would that make a difference?" asked Tsunade.

"Shadow clones send you the memory of what they do, at least as far as I can tell from the ones I had out in the invasion. It means they can do paperwork so I can have time to train if need be," she explained.

The two sannin paused, and looked at her in absolute shock.

"What?"

"Girl...do you realize what you've done?" asked Jiraiya.

"Um, why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"You...just defeated the greatest enemy all kages must suffer. The demon that is known as paperwork..." said Tsunade in awe.

Naruto took one look at their faces and took a picture with Nozomi's camera. This was too funny to pass up!

_Flashback end..._

* * *

Nozomi took out the bone ninja with a flick of her tail. The spell sailed past Naruto (it went over his head, which made Nozomi chuckle, because he was so short) and hit Kimimaro when he went to attack the blond.

The ninja was out cold with the stunner. A quick body bind insured he wouldn't be moving even if he _did_ wake up.

She went to Tsunade, returned to human form, and gave her a good slap.

"_Tsunade, look at yourself. Look at how far you've fallen! Are you going to allow the people who have died to help you to this point die in vain? Look at Jiraiya! I'm sure he's lost precious people too, and he still finds the courage to get up off his ass and get the job done!"_ said Nozomi scolding.

Jiraiya was fighting the snake, his chakra control much better after Nozomi paralyzed him and shoved a bezoar in his mouth, neutralizing almost all the poison Tsunade slipped him.

With the bone nin neutralized, Nozomi stayed by Tsunade to insure that Orochimaru didn't try to take her out while she was down. It was pretty damn obvious he knew of her problem (not surprising, considering they were once teammates) it also meant she was the most vulnerable at the moment.

So until she got over whatever the hell caused her to freeze, Nozomi would be playing bodyguard.

Naruto came gasping as he had gotten a nasty injury to his side. Blood was seeping onto his jacket, which was practically torn open.

Nozomi cursed a blue streak. She was good at battle magic and jutsu, but her only non offensive powers were flight, transformation, and a few pranks. She had no ability with medical spells.

It was something that had frustrated her to no end after her first year when she had looked up tons of medical spells and learned the hard way that she couldn't heal any injuries outside her own with her magic.

She had complained about it to Madam Pomphrey, who had looked at her oddly and asked when she had checked out any of the medical texts that were in the charms section.

It was then that she learned that the Healer had an alarm to alert her whenever someone checked out a medical magic text so she would know if anyone was messing around with it. Apparently healing magic, if misused, was more dangerous than a poorly made potion.

Nozomi slapped Tsunade hard, and pushed Naruto at her.

The shock of the slap, combined with her healer's instincts, caused her to snap out of her funk long enough to heal the boy.

Shizune was busy trying to avoid the third attacker that had hurt Naruto. It was a medic nin who had been apprenticing under Kabuto. Mizune was not happy about the fact that the Sand brat had gotten Kabuto captured and hung.

They had been unable to rescue him, mostly because Orochimaru cared little for him after he was captured. He viewed the talented man as a tool, one that was entirely expendable if caught.

"_Shizune, switch partners and dance!"_ yelled Nozomi. The bone boy wasn't going to move any time soon.

She complied, jumping that way instead of running. Nozomi and Shizune lightly crossed each other's paths before Nozomi went after the medic with a vengeance.

Her tails flew in the wind as she struck the medic, who scowled when she didn't even react to the cuts. From the information they had, she was a civilian who acted as an independent contractor whenever shinobi couldn't act because of politics. She came from a noble line, so her power was entirely unusual.

Nozomi's claws were razor sharp, and she left large rivers of blood pouring out of the medic. He couldn't heal them fast enough, and he was popping blood pills in his mouth like there was no tomorrow...which if Nozomi had her way would be the case.

Suddenly her claws erupted into flames, and the man screamed in pain. It had shocked quite a few people when they learned that Nozomi had no issues with screams of absolute pain and anguish. Especially when they learned she was a noble to boot!

It was one of the few lessons from her so called family that she took to heart. If no one cared back then how much she screamed in pain, why should she care _now_?

Without warning Nozomi gave the man a fatal blow. He had been too busy healing a flame-covered cut to move in time.

Her eyes danced with emerald color flames.

She jumped when a snake almost crashed onto her. Blood filled with battle fire, she ran alongside the snake's hide to find Orochimaru at the other end. His body was decaying faster the longer he fought, and it was clear that he still felt the effects of her curse. Jiraiya took full advantage of that fact to try and kill him.

Nozomi jumped high above the two, and landed painfully on the snake faced creep.

Orochimaru screamed in pure pain as she landed right on the worst affected area of her curse. He could practically feel the power of her curse doubling with direct contact.

"_You give snakes a bad name, little man. I think it's time someone taught you real respect!" _growled Nozomi.

"Nozomi, you aren't ready to..." started Jiraiya, until he got a good look at her eyes. They were on fire!

"_Who do you think spared the old man's life before? I placed a rather potent curse on him last time I fought him...and as you can see it's still very much active!"_ she smirked.

"Nozomi, if you don't snap out of that battle lust right now, how will your precious Gaara react? He could very well return to be a bloodthirsty monster out for death if you don't break out of that..." cautioned Jiraiya.

The flames in her eyes dwindled, somewhat, but the presence of such a dangerous monster made sure they didn't go out.

"_Hmph...it seems your former comrade spared you more pain, little man. But make no mistake...come after what is mine again and I will kill you in the most painful way imaginable,"_ growled Nozomi.

She returned to Tsunade's side, making sure Naruto would live after the attack he took. The Fox was already healing it from the inside out.

* * *

"Would someone mind telling me what the hell was going on? Why did Orochimaru of all people scream like that?" asked Tsunade.

"Um...that would be my doing. Last time I ran into him while helping the Hokage I kinda...placed a nasty entropy curse on his major organs..." Nozomi admitted sheepishly.

"A _what_?" asked Tsunade.

"A really nasty entropy curse. Basically his major organs will feel like they're being slowly destroyed by a corrosive acid. If left untreated by a curse breaker it will kill him within months, if not weeks. Though fighting in a major battle will only make it progress faster and more painfully..." she admitted.

"Where in the hell did you learn something like that?" asked Jiraiya in horror.

"My godfather has half a library's worth of books with things like that. He comes from a rather...dark...family, though he was considered the black sheep because he choose to take a different route. He doesn't mind if I read those books so long as I don't turn them on people who don't deserve it..."

"In any case, it looks like your vacation is about over Nozomi-chan. What are you going to do once we reach Konoha?" asked Shizune.

"Actually, I was hoping to get your help. You see the girl I rescued from the creep had all eight of her inner gates forcibly opened, and her recovery is at a snail's pace. The only reason she isn't locked up in the ANBU Interrogation department is because I vouched for her and plan to take her back to Suna with me."

"You want us to heal her enough so she can make the trip in time for you to take over the Kazekage's office?" asked Tsunade.

"If you could I would be grateful. Kin-chan is a newly awakened witch, so I would need her to be near me so we can start her magic training. The only reason she survived the entire process is because I kindled her magic to the point where it would keep her alive."

"I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises."

"Might I make a suggestion?" said Nozomi.

"Sure."

"The Hokage mentioned sending at least two squads of randomly selected shinobi to help with the sudden increase in missions. I'm afraid it's been nearly a decade since the Wind Daimyo restricted us, and some of the shinobi aren't ready to handle the amount. Could you possibly send the Uchiha brat our way?"

"Why do you want the teme?" asked Naruto confused.

"I've seen the results of stroking an ego like that and always complimenting the family and not the person. It's not a pretty sight and the result is a blood feud if left untreated. Perhaps if Sasuke were praised for his _own_ abilities and not constantly reminded of his long deceased family every time he accomplishes something, he might loose the serrated kunai lodged firmly up his ass."

"That actually sounds like a good idea. I hated being reminded of my great grandfather and uncle every time I accomplished something of note, and it was Jiraiya that managed to keep me grounded..." said Tsunade.

"Ugh...I am so going to hate the paperwork that I _know_ is going to be waiting for me..." said Nozomi.

Tsunade cackled. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one who was going to be suffering in the coming months!

Tsunade walked into Konoha, and she felt a wave of depression hit her. After decades of wandering and trying to drink away her pain, she had returned.

Nozomi was less than enthusiastic as well. Returning to Konoha meant her vacation was going to end soon, and she really didn't want to face the paperwork.

Naruto cheerfully dragged the girl straight to Ichiraku's for one final bowl before she made the long trek back to Suna.

Two hours later she received the message that Kin would be allowed to leave the Hospital in three days time. Nozomi took that opportunity wisely, by establishing a place for Luna and the other magicals to stay.

Though it did surprise her that Remus was heading to the Elemental Nations...which was why she mentioned him to Tsume. The minute she said werewolf, the matriach was interested. The Inuzuka clan worked with wolves and dogs, so naturally they would be interested to meet a genuine werewolf. The only issue was that the only wolves to make it that far in were ones like Fenrir Greyback...and they had always been forced to put them down.

If Remus did prove to be harmless, then there was a very good chance that he would be accepted into the Inuzuka clan. After seeing a picture of the tawny haired teen, Tsume was _very_ interested in meeting him.

If Nozomi accidentally got Remus a girlfriend who happened to be a kunoichi, then Sirius and Nozomi would have a lot of fun teasing him later. Remus was too noble to drop Tsume like her lover had a few years after Kiba was born.

Nozomi was of the opinion that Tsume could help Remus come out of his shell that had surrounded him since her father passed away. Even though Sirius was free (and proven innocent) the man was still too weak to properly be called a wolf.

She suspected that was the reason why his wolf side was so painful for him on the full moon.

* * *

"Kin-chan, how are you feeling?" asked Nozomi.

Kin gave her a dead look. Her eyes were like a doll's. Nozomi walked up to her and said "Now, now, no need to look so dead inside. You're going to be coming with me back to Suna at the end of the week."

"Why? What reason do I have for living now that..."

Nozomi sighed. She hated dealing with people like this. There were only a few options that she could use to break someone out of their funk. She grabbed Kin's hand, and brought out a roughly carved bowl with strange markings on the outside. Inside was a silvery pool of liquid which Kin couldn't identify readily.

Nozomi tapped her finger to her head, and brought out a lighter silvery thread...and placed it into the bowl. She then placed Kin's hand into it along with her own.

Kin watched as the little girl was beaten and neglected. The scene rang a familiar tune inside her heart. This was eerily similar to the way the orphans were treated until they reached genin in Otogakure.

She felt a warm presence beside her the entire time, never leaving her side. She felt so safe with it nearby...like she could close her eyes and know everything would turn out okay in the end.

Kin gasped once the memories finished replaying...and felt the warmth in her hand. She looked up as if seeing things for the first time in her life...and her gaze fell on Nozomi.

"Kin-chan...you're not alone. Not anymore."

Kin looked at Nozomi with eyes alive for the first time since she was saved...and she threw herself at the girl. Her eyes were filled with tears as Nozomi gently held her rubbing the girl's back gently.

She hated showing Kin her childhood memories, but she knew instinctively that it was the easiest way to break whatever mental conditioning Orochimaru had placed on her to make her so loyal.

The two girls just sat there until Kin fell sound asleep for the first time since she had been saved.

* * *

(A/N I have NO clue how the word _Domino_ was added to that last part. Thank you for seeing and pointed out that error!)


	10. Chapter 10

Nozomi helped Kin find clothes to wear in Suna. It seemed shopping for something nice to wear was another thing forbidden to females. Nozomi was beginning to despise Oto ninja.

While they shopped, Nozomi decided that the girl needed a clean break from her former identity as a ninja of Oto. She was all for it, having transferred her fanatical loyalty from Orochimaru to Nozomi after the girl shared her past.

After a while, Nozomi found the perfect name for her new assistant/follower.

"From now on your name shall be...Kiseki."

"Kiseki?"

"If my name means 'hope', yours will mean 'miracle'," explained Nozomi.

The newly named Kiseki tried out her new name. She rather liked it, since it meant that she no longer had any ties to her former leader. He had abandoned that right the day he used and abandoned her to the Leaf ninja.

* * *

While they took the semi-long way around to Suna (Nozomi was in the mood to see more of the Elemental countries before the evil demons that awaited her in Suna swallowed her up for weeks on end) they came across an interesting problem.

A young boy with long brown hair was wandering the roadside looking similar to the way Kiseki had before Nozomi snapped her out of her funk. The boy's clothes were torn and bloodied, as if he had been on the loosing end of a battle. There was a large gash in the center of his chest, and it looked like someone had stuck their hand straight into his chest with an assassination jutsu.

Kiseki had gone to work using what little medical jutsu she had (she was very amused to hear Nozomi curse when the subject was brought up). The boy (who was quickly revealed to be a female wearing a rather effective wrap) was still in a daze, seemingly unaware of the fact that someone was healing the small infection that could kill her if left untreated for much longer.

Nozomi reluctantly decided to set up camp and hopefully get the story behind why a girl that pretty was wandering alone and so badly injured. It was something Hermione had once dubbed her 'saving people thing' shortly before Nozomi had cut all ties to the two.

Once she got the story, she had to resist groaning. Why was it that she kept attracting damaged people so similar to herself in the Elemental Countries? She would have to ask Sirius to look in on that later, though she was certain that the goblins had gotten _all_ the spells that had been cast on her by the headmaster and other manipulative parties.

That compulsion to marry Ginny had been particularly horrific to learn about. It was lucky for the twins that they were as shocked and horrified to learn of the spell as she had been.

Sometime during the night, they were attacked by Kiri nin. It wasn't particularly surprising, considering she was so close to the Land of Water at the time...

The girl fought like a chunin, surprising both of them when they found out she had the Hyoton bloodline. The Kiri shinobi seemed particularly angry to learn of it, and came after her in a frenzy.

Nozomi transformed into her fox form to deal more damage...and Kiseki made sure to get on her back so she wouldn't get hit by the claws. It took a few tries to get near the girl using ice without getting hit, but eventually she joined the two on Nozomi's back.

Nozomi blasted the area with emerald flames, and took to the sky. They hadn't exactly unpacked their things, aside from the dinner Nozomi made which had long since been devoured.

She landed near a large bridge and Kiseki helped the girl off her back.

"So...aside from the Kiri nin, who else is after you?"

"No one..." whispered the girl.

"Well I can't in good conscience leave you alone this close to Kiri. Which leaves me no choice..."

The girl winced.

"You're going to have to join us," said Nozomi firmly.

The girl stared at her in shock. She would willingly allow someone like her to join her group?

"I don't mind taking you with me to Suna, but we'll need something to call you. And since you are unwilling to give us your name, I'll have to come up with one myself."

The girl stared at her. She had long since abandoned the name her master had given her, wandering the countryside after digging herself out of the shallow grave. She felt like she didn't deserve to bear the name.

"Tsurara."

The newly named Tsurara tested out the name. It fit her powers, to be sure. But she felt like she would always refer to her previous name in her heart.

"Would you like to have a nickname as well?" asked Nozomi, sensing the debate in the other girl.

"Haku."

"So officially your name shall be Tsurara...but in private we'll call you Haku-chan. Is that okay?"

The girl smiled for the first time in months. Here was someone who acknowledged her and accepted her after her master was killed.

"I would like that."

"Then it's settled... I guess there's no reason for me to put off killing those demons that are waiting for me..." said Nozomi with a cloud over her head.

"What demons?" asked Tsurara.

Kiseki looked like she was trying desperately not to laugh. Ever since Nozomi had freed her from her previous life, she had found that the warmer emotions came more easily to her. Laughter, joy, and friendship seemed to bubble up around the girl.

"I have no doubt that I will eventually tame them...but it will be an epic battle of the ages!" declared Nozomi.

Tsurara turned to Kiseki, who seemed to be the only one who knew what the other girl was talking about. Kiseki was doubled over trying hard not to laugh her ass off.

"What is she talking about?"

"She...(snicker)...she's the interim Kazekage. When she gets back to Suna she's going to have to do all the paperwork that comes with being a Kage, only she isn't one really."

"So the demon she is talking about is..."

"The hellish amount of paperwork that comes with being the leader of a hidden village. It doesn't help that she is almost single-handedly funding Suna until it gets back on it's feet!"

Tsurara stared at the ranting Nozomi...and started to giggle. Her voice was like a wind chime in sound, and it got Nozomi to snap out of her rant.

"You should laugh more often Haku-chan. It suits you."

"I will keep that in mind Nozomi-sama."

Nozomi groaned. It was bad enough she had to deal with that formality in court functions and council meetings!

"Just Nozomi-chan, _please._ It's bad enough the Suna council and some of the jounin call me that."

"As you wish, Nozomi-_chan_," said Tsurara.

"Anyway we need a place to crash. Tomorrow I'm taking us straight to the nearest Wind outpost. The bandits have learned to leave me alone, but I don't want to deal with any other shinobi on the way home."

Tsurara stared at her.

"The nearest Wind outpost is nearly five days away."

"Not with me around it isn't. I can get us there in five minutes at most. Distance really isn't an issue when you're with me."

Tsurara would believe it when she saw it.

* * *

Tsurara couldn't believe it. Kiseki had been surprised the first time, but she adjusted rather quickly after a short demonstration by Nozomi two days before.

"How...?"

"Like I said, five minutes tops. Ten if I wanted to do it without the being sucked through a straw sensation," said Nozomi.

"We were in Wave...how did we get all the way to the second biggest town in Wind in five minutes?" said Tsurara in absolute shock.

"Magic my dear, magic. Something you'll learn how to use if what I sensed yesterday was right."

"Magic? I thought magic was banned from the Elemental Countries?"

"Not banned...just frowned upon. The pure bloods sure didn't make a good impression on the shinobi during the war. Frankly after finding out Malfoy was here, I'm not shocked in the least," snorted Nozomi.

"Passports?" asked the guard. Upon seeing Nozomi more clearly, he looked at her.

"Nevermind. Who are these two Nozomi-dono?"

"My new assistants. Tsurara and Kiseki. I trust there won't be any issues?"

"Just need their passports."

"Can you get me the paperwork? They'll need new ones, and I doubt I would be able to get their previous information without a great deal of headaches for all around."

"Missing nin?" he guessed.

"More like a former Sound kunoichi and a civilian trained girl with the Hyoton," said Nozomi bluntly.

"Ah. Let me help you with the paperwork then..."

Tsurara and Kiseki stared at Nozomi.

"Why did that chunin call you Nozomi_-dono_? I've never heard a shinobi called by that honorific except for a Kage..." asked Kiseki.

"Ah, about that... I may have neglected to mention that the reason I was able to almost fund Suna on my own is because...I'm a noble," she said sheepishly.

Tsurara and Kiseki stared at her in disbelief.

"Bullshit," said Kiseki flatly.

"She is a noble. Not that we hold it against her, right Nozomi-san?" said the chunin kindly.

"Yeah, yeah rub it in that I have to deal with that crap on top of what's waiting for me..." she grumbled, not really meaning it.

Nozomi filled out most of the paperwork, having Tsurara and Kiseki helping her. An hour later they had new passports...and were beyond surprised when they found themselves flying across the desert on a wind boat reserved for only the richest of nobles. (Which in Wind meant that only someone with Daimyo-level bank accounts could afford to have one with shinobi that could use wind to power it.)

Tsurara and Kiseki still couldn't believe their friend and leader was a noble as well as a magical of all things.

It was a very sobering thought to learn that.

* * *

Kiseki and Tsurara stared when Nozomi was greeted by a very enthusiastic redhead with a gourd on his back. The shinobi behind him were still in shock that he hugged her.

"Someone's missed me. How have things been Gaara?" she asked. It was clear she missed him as much as he had her.

"We've managed to get the demons under manageable levels for you," said Gaara.

It was clear he was able to sleep for a change, since Jiraiya had fixed the seal for him. He could still access Shukaku, but the tanuki would no longer be able to take control if he fell asleep. The first night back, Gaara had practically slept for two days straight. Every since, Temari had found it much easier to deal with him.

"Thank kami. I was afraid those demons would devour me alive, even with new help."

Gaara took one look past her and said "You picked up another one."

"Gaara, meet Tsurara. I found her while wandering near Wave. Be nice."

He gave her a long look, and when she didn't back down he was impressed. Not many could handle his blank gaze without flinching slightly.

* * *

Nozomi had created a stamp with her signature on it, and was using it to get through the large stacks of paper before her. She had taken the Kage office a week ago, and she was still almost buried in paper.

Someone knocked at the door.

"Come in!" she yelled. Kiseki was sorting the papers with Tsurara's help. Between the two of them, Nozomi was able to find the more important documents that needed to be signed first.

"Team Subaku, Mission successful," said Temari. Nozomi glared at her for the amused tone.

"Leave the report next to Clone 4. I'll have your pay sent to you during my break," said Nozomi calmly.

"Hai!"

Nozomi had marked her clones with numbers to make it easier for the shinobi. The first dealt with S and A rank mission reports. The second dealt with B ranks, third dealt with C and the fourth handled all D ranks. It was an efficient system that made paying the shinobi go that much faster.

Once dinner rolled around, Nozomi stopped. All the reports had been read and the payment had been delivered in full to the teams. She rubbed her shoulder painfully and grinned when Kiseki handed her a hot cup of tea.

"Thanks. How far along have we gotten in sorting out that financial mess?"

"About halfway. Haku-chan is surprisingly adept at picking out inconsistencies."

"Zabuza left most of the accounting to me. I'm just surprised at how many there were...the fourth seems like an idiot from what I can tell."

"He was a decent jounin, but a crappy Kage," said Nozomi flatly.

"We might be able to finish another quarter if we keep till one," said Tsurara.

"The sooner we find out where all the money went, the sooner we can fix the deficit. Which reminds me, I still need to sign the rest of the papers that go to the company..." groaned Nozomi.

Ever since she had taken the job, her company paperwork had taken second place. Getting it done was something she had been putting off for days now.

"How about tomorrow we take a break so you can get that done? I think we deserve one after a week like we've had..." suggested Tsurara.

"Seconded?" said Nozomi. Kiseki nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Tomorrow we take a break, aside from the five clones. This is absolute murder!"

* * *

Nozomi practically flew through the paperwork the company sent her. After a week of speed signing (and having her clones read through every scrap carefully beforehand) she had become an adept at the work. In less than an hour she had finished it, and she stared.

"Something the matter pup?"

"...Is there any potions for carpel tunnel syndrome?" she asked calmly.

"I have pain relief potions, but I've never heard of that..."

"Maybe some training will get rid of this twitch in my hands..." said Nozomi.

She grabbed her tessen and went to the special training ground reserved for the Kage. One of the fringe benefits of dealing with all the paperwork that came with the office was that she was allowed to use the training ground without restriction. The place was filled with enough toys for her to get a real workout in less time.

Gaara was already there waiting for her. As the son of the previous Kage, he was allowed access as well. Well, that and no sane person wanted to deal with a cranky Gaara.

"I've missed you," he said.

"I hate paperwork."

She was rewarded with an actual grin, something Gaara was still getting used to using.

"Care to spar? No sand, just straight up taijutsu," she said quickly.

Seeing the look in his eyes she knew she had made the right choice. A few days into the paperwork hell, she had made the mistake of introducing Gaara to some of the more...explicit...sci-fi novels. Sadly the boy decided to create an entirely new jutsu based off one of the reoccurring themes.

A pale faced Temari had described it to her, and Nozomi's face quickly turned ghost like the second the implications sunk in. She had inadvertently created a horrifying monster no woman wanted to face. If Jiraiya heard about it, she had little doubt it would end up in his badly written porn.

Gaara called this frightening technique... 'Sand Style: Shokushu no jutsu'. (Roughly translates: Sand Style: _Tentacle_ no jutsu.)

It was more than enough to give her nightmares. Thankfully she had quickly nipped the idea of using such a trick on her in the bud a few days after it was created. Though should her former headmaster appear, she wouldn't hesitate to send him Gaara's way with a note that told him to use it.

Nozomi noted with some dismay that her skill had gone down. It was very slight, but it still rankled. Then and there she swore to take every end of the week off and let the clones deal with the paperwork so she could improve her skills.

"Your skill has gone down a bit Nozomi," said Gaara calmly.

"I have been taking a break from my training. Perhaps I could get back into the swing if I trained at least once a week?" she thought aloud.

"...Have you considered using weights?"

Nozomi stared...and then grinned.

"Random weights in objects that are normally light. I can't believe no one ever considered that! I know just the spell to use too!"

Gaara's smile widened slightly. He had helped his girlfriend improve her skills while keeping the village running at the same time.

He had already noted the vast improvement since she took over. The depression that had settled in since his father ran the village was started to go away, slowly but surely. Shops that were on the verge of closing forever were now doing more business than they had in months.

Civilians were walking around actually _smiling_ and they looked healthier too. It was like a weight had been removed from the village.

Shinobi which had been on the verge of drinking themselves to death worked with renewed purpose. Nozomi actually _cared_ about them, and it showed in the way they acted.


	11. Chapter 11

Remus was nervous, and rightly so. He was surrounded by no less than _five_ wolf sized hounds, and a bloody Cerberus pup! Combined with this problem was the three shinobi looking at him with interest and annoyance.

The two females were the ones looking at him with interest, while the lone male looked at him with extreme annoyance.

"You must be Lupin-san. Nozomi recommended you when she spoke of her favorite teachers," said the older woman. His inner wolf told him that she was the alpha of this pack.

It also added that it approved of her nature, to his embarrassment. Something about her appealed to his werewolf side, and he noted she was actually quite attractive, despite the odd markings.

Neville whimpered beside him, and Remus carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. Augusta had finally agreed to let him leave Hogwarts when it came to light that there was a so called prophecy that involved her grandson and the Potter heir. Learning that Dumbledore was more or less responsible for the girl's departure was more than enough reason to get Neville out of Europe until it all bowled over.

Neville had little interest in Suna the moment Hope had mentioned how little plants grew there. Which was why she told him to join Remus in moving to Konoha, and help keep the contacts she created open to working with magicals.

While Neville was often the cowardly lion, Hope had absolute faith that time away from Britain would bring out his real ability. She had already set up a job inside the Yamanaka flower shop for him.

She had no doubt that the minute Naruto learned of Neville's toad Trevor, the two would become best friends. At the very least Naruto would bolster the boy's low amount of confidence!

* * *

"So you are the two wizards Nozomi asked us to allow in. What exactly are your specialties?" asked Tsunade. Magicals weren't exactly welcomed in most villages, so the arrangement would have to be one sided until the image of people with magic improved.

It wasn't what she liked, but it would help them in the long run.

"I happen to be a werewolf, but I have a lot of experience with magical creatures. Also the closer the moon is to being full, the better my sense of smell becomes," said Remus. Hope had already told him that she had blown that secret out of the water, so he had no reason to actually hide it.

"The Inuzuka clan has already mentioned that you are welcome to stay with them. It's extremely rare that they encounter a _sane_ werewolf in our territory," said Tsunade.

Remus winced.

"I assure you, I always carry my Wolfsbane potion, so my werewolf form shouldn't be too much of a problem. Though I wouldn't recommend getting too close as a precaution," he said.

"If nothing else we can throw you into the forty-fourth training ground until morning. Very few people would want to go near there outside the chunin exams, and it's perfectly safe for a wolf..." said Tsunade.

She then looked at Neville. He flinched, but held his ground.

"Nozomi has mentioned you extensively. I believe she mentioned that you own a toad?"

Neville squeaked, but brought out Trevor. The tips Hope had sent him had made it infinitely easier to keep the toad from escaping his portable frog pond.

Tsunade's amused look got rid of some discomfort.

"One of our more...interesting...shinobi has offered to let you live in the apartment next to his. I believe he mentioned that he had converted it into a rather successful greenhouse since no one had bothered to rent it in three years upon moving there. He has an...affinity...towards toads, so the two of you should get along fine," said Tsunade.

Neville perked up at the word greenhouse. It was the one place guaranteed to calm him down, and he was eager to see the different plants this shinobi grew.

* * *

An hour later, the two were settled in. Neville was as nervous as Hinata when he met the cheerful Naruto. Once he realize the boy was a blond and hyperactive version of the twins, the two were chatting like old friends.

Remus, however, found himself under a figurative microscope the second he stepped in the Inuzuka compound. Apparently they had more than one run in with the pack that was lead by the same werewolf that had cursed him.

However all that tension was diffused when the large black wolf with only one ear sniffed him thoroughly and announced (in human tongue no less!) that he had a far different scent compared to the other wolves they had killed in the past.

While Remus had the scent of a wolf, it was tempered with strength and kindness. He still found it odd to be living with people who worked, lived and fought alongside wolf-canine hybrids (some of which talked to his shock) but he found it strangely comforting.

When the heir of the clan heard of his potion, she asked for a sample to see how it affected werewolves.

Needless to say she was somewhat horrified that he had been forcibly suppressing his inner wolf...though that was also tempered by the fact he did it to protect others who came across him in that state.

Upon hearing that, he found the clan looking at him with something akin to respect. So it was with some surprise that the matriarch offered to give him lessons on how to work _alongside_ his werewolf side instead of trying to supress it. To an Inuzuka, the idea of suppressing and controlling a wolf like that was heresy. Eager for a less painful way of dealing with his wolf form, Remus agreed without thinking twice.

Not even he could anticipate the consequences of that action.

* * *

Neville found Naruto easy to get along with. Once they initially broke the ice by talking about toads (something Naruto had cheerfully surprised the boy by summoning one that talked back) they two practically hit it off.

Naruto didn't mind working around the accident prone Neville. In slow but sure steps, he managed to bring Neville's confidence up to the point where he could brew a potion without a single explosion. His greenhouse (which still had a bed and kitchen in it) had never been livelier. The plants seemed to thrive around Neville.

Naruto also found himself having a more pleasant friendship with the village gossip hound Ino when she learned of his private greenhouse.

Having Neville around also had an effect on Naruto, to the amusement of Tsunade.

Because of his timid personality, Naruto had taken to toning down his naturally loud self without realizing it. He still wore ungodly amounts of orange, but it was muted by other colors. Neville, surprisingly enough, had an eye for color coordination. Then again, he had redecorated the Yamanaka flower shop one morning and they had seen a drastic boost in sales a few hours later. The results spoke for themselves.

(He was quickly placed onto making the flower arrangements by Ino's mother. Inoichi was rather pleased to have such a gentle boy around his rather...forceful...daughter. At least she didn't yell at him like she did Chouji.)

Naruto seemed relieved beyond belief that Neville was _nothing_ like his other friends. While he noticed that most civilians were extremely uncomfortable around shinobi friends, Neville was the complete opposite. He seemed more comfortable around shinobi than he was around civilians.

Then again, Naruto had a good idea _why_.

It wasn't exactly a secret (not Kyuubi level anyway) that Neville and Remus were magicals. Since magicals were in general frowned upon (treated with almost as much disdain as Naruto, if not ostracized as publicly) however because of their encounter with Nozomi, the shinobi were more than happy to take a wait and see approach.

Remus was already establishing himself within the Inuzuka clan, as he was more than happy to try anything in an attempt to get his wolf to work with him instead of against. The clan had nothing but good things to say about him.

Neville had shocked Naruto into absolute silence when he kept Sakura from punching him like she normally did when he kept up his mask of idiocy. The fact that someone was willing to keep the abuse from happening had secured Neville's friendship in Naruto.

It had also caused Sakura to rethink her habit of hitting him when he didn't understand something clearly. If someone as timid as Neville could stand up to someone like her (I/E a complete and utter banshee with almost NO redeemable qualities) then clearly she has issues.

It had come as a nasty surprise when Neville actually started to chastise her for harming someone she was supposed to look at as a comrade. What if one day Naruto decided that enough was enough, and let her get killed?

While such a scenario was highly unlikely, it did make Sakura think about the habit she had gotten into at the Academy. And when Neville pointed out that as a shinobi she should know better than to potentially _injure_ her teammate... Well, Sakura finally shut up her banshee-like voice and thought long and hard about her actions past and present.

* * *

Tsunade summoned eight shinobi to go to Suna for an entire year. They would help supplement the recovering village and strengthen the strained relations that Orochimaru and the fourth Kazekage had nearly ruined during the failed invasion. Thanks in part to Nozomi, the Sand village was on the fast track to recovery, but it was still slow going.

She looked at the eight chosen, noting that the Uchiha brat was somewhat surprised to have been chosen at all.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame..."

The eight shinobi stood at attention. The two genin and new chunin were still wondering why they had been selected at all.

"First off, three of you had been asked for specifically by the interim Kazekage of Suna. Your quarters have already been chosen, so you just need to move in. I expect you to be on your best behavior, since even though you will be working alongside Sand shinobi you are still Leaf ninja. Any problems I hear about will be dealt with harshly, and I'll be damned if I have to fill out the paperwork for any of your screw ups," said Tsunade, glaring at the Uchiha when she mentioned paperwork.

Sasuke took the hint, and snorted. If he did something wrong, _he_ was the one who would have to fill out the forms, something no sane (or insane) shinobi enjoyed.

"You are expected there within a week, and you'll be bringing some of the special herbs that the magical kid Neville has been so successful in breeding. Try not to destroy the containers if you can help it."

They managed to make the journey with only a few days to spare. And as soon as they got there, they already knew it would be a long year.

Sasuke, Shino and Shikamaru were given the apartment below the one Nozomi rented. (Tsurara and Kiseki lived above her after much protest and a few well placed holes...not that Nozomi ever noticed the holes...)

Temari was very surprised to learn the boy she had developed some feelings for after the exam would be living in Suna for the entire year.

She made sure to give Nozomi a large hug for the surprise.

Shino, when he got settled in, was immediately asked to help debug the greenhouses. He was allowed to keep any insects that interested him in the process, which more than made up for the rather dull task he was assigned.

* * *

Sasuke walked around, unsure on how to act in Suna. Back in Konoha people practically worshiped the ground he walked on. It was highly annoying, and the fangirls were worse than flies.

But in Suna, people didn't look twice at him, or even give him the respect he knew he didn't deserve. It was...odd. But not in a bad way.

As he walked around, he wondered what to do about it. At least until he ran into Nozomi, the interim Kage coming out of the bookstore.

"Nozomi-dono," he said, arching his head appropriately.

"Sasuke-san. Enjoying your walk?"

"It's a bit...different...than the ones I took in Konoha," he admitted.

"Hmm...would you like to talk for a bit? It will take a little while longer for my assistants to figure out I switched with a shadow clone," she grinned.

He didn't have anything better to do, so he agreed. She wouldn't have anything to gain from killing him.

"So how are you liking Suna?"

"Its...different."

"Different how, and be specific."

"I'm not used to the anonymity around here. And not running from my horde is surprisingly refreshing."

"I can imagine. I think I can relate to your situation. You are used to being known for your family, but all of your own achievements are downsized compared to them. You feel like you're being crushed by the weight of living to those expectations, even though you know they should have nothing to do with you. Am I right?"

Sasuke stared at her with wide eyes. She had hit that nail exactly on the head, and no one in Konoha had even noticed that fact.

"How...?"

"I know someone in a similar situation. Back in Europe there's this clan called the Malfoy family... I see you've at least heard of them."

"The Malfoy clan are infamous for being one of the main reasons why the shinobi nations hate magicals. They almost singlehandedly caused those with magical blood to be banned and killed on sight."

Nozomi winced. That...didn't sound the least bit farfetched after she had a run in with Lucius and had spent three years dealing with Draco. She wouldn't be that surprised to hear that they had almost gotten an entire race killed because of their stupidity.

"The heir of the Malfoy clan is named after the dragon constellation in the night sky. When he came to the school, he was placed almost immediately into the same house as his father had been during his school years."

She saw his confusion at the term, so she elaborated.

"This school had four separate houses...compounds if you will. Each was based off of a certain characteristic or personality trait. The Lion house for courage and bravery. The badgers for loyalty and hard work. The ravens for intelligence and book smarts. And the snake house for cunning and ambition. Dragon was placed in the snake house...and he was almost swamped by the weight placed on his shoulders by his father. He spent most of his school days trying to best me at anything he could, even using insults to try and make himself better than he actually was. In short he was a bully."

Sasuke was started to see where she was going with this.

"What he didn't realize was that I was paying attention to how he acted the entire time. He had almost no friends and only a pair of inbred bookends with barely a wit between them as constant company. If he couldn't get what he wanted through force, mainly through physical violence using the idiots, then he would immediately threaten to send his father after the unlucky victim. It was actually very annoying at times."

Sasuke actually chuckled. Such a threat would get a person killed in the shinobi world.

"His best rebuke to an actual threat was 'Just wait until I tell my father about this!'" she snickered.

"Anyone that weak would be killed on their first mission outside a village," he said.

"Now you know why I like the shinobi continents more than I do the magical ones. At least here only those who can actually _back up_ their threats survive long enough to reach forty. Back there they have a complete idiot who rides on the coattails of others and accepts large bribes to stay in office running the government. I'll be glad to stay here when they finally collapse in on themselves."

"So what was the real reason you asked for me?" he asked.

"I saw a little of Dragon in you, and I didn't want you to fall into the same patterns he had. At least in Suna you would be given a chance to improve and acknowledged for your own merits and accomplishments rather than have people practically heaping false praise...also I thought you could use the break from the fangirls."

"Thanks..." said Sasuke, and for once he actually meant it. It would be interesting to see how far he could progress without all the kowtowing back in Konoha. To be honest he was about ready to leave the village permanently in search of power if Nozomi hadn't sent for him.

Though being compared to a spoiled magical who ran to his father every time he didn't get his way did give him a bit of a wakeup call. He _had_ been relying far too much on his family's fame and power of late, especially once his sharingan awakened. Perhaps a little extra training wouldn't be too amiss?

* * *

Shikamaru walked alongside Nozomi once she left the dumpling shop. She wasn't in the mood to cook that night, and it was her turn.

"I suppose I should thank you. Sasuke has been easier to live with since you talked to him."

"Oh? I wasn't aware that I had done any such thing," she said innocently. You couldn't melt butter in her mouth. Shikamaru's mouth twitched upwards.

"You did something to dislodge the kunai up his ass. Naruto had been making some progress, but whatever you said is making it come out."

"I just told him of a magical boy name Dragon that he reminded me strongly of. If he figured out what I was trying to say, well that all for the better for both our villages isn't it?" she grinned.

Shikamaru shrugged before going to work with Temari.


	12. Chapter 12

Nozomi looked up from her paperwork when she sensed the larger than normal magical signature approaching. It had taken her three months, but she had finally tracked down the last of the misplaced funds and the income of the village had shot up almost immediately afterword. The fact that they were now exporting healing potions to the other shinobi nations meant that they had practically cornered the market. Even with the five percent stipend to Konoha after the debacle with their previous Kazekage.

Nozomi didn't doubt for a second that had she not taken the reins, the amount of concessions to their allies would have been a _lot_ higher. She shuddered to think of what Suna would have had to do to get back into the Leaf's good graces.

But the second the door opened, her face went from pleasant to extreme anger. She would have rather faced the chaos of untamed paperwork to the person standing before her.

"I am looking for a missing student of mine, and I was informed to ask for the interim leader of the village to make the mission request," said Dumbledore.

It took him a good ten minutes to realize that all the KI in the room was immediately focused on him. Neither of her assistants were even breathing hard.

Nozomi forced her anger to drop and placed a silent henge on herself. It wasn't much, but it would keep him from recognizing her immediately.

"And why would a magical come here to bother us? As long as this student of yours doesn't break the rules we set, we could care less about them," she said coolly.

"I'm afraid those that seek him would disagree. The Dark Lord Voldemort has recently returned, and he will send many people here to kill him."

"We don't cater to your Dark Lord, and he would have to pay us very well to even consider accepting a request. As for your student, we don't have any underage _male_ magical users here aside from my assistants, who are shinobi first and magic student second. And I can't spare them to go to whatever school you have, so don't try to tempt them."

Nozomi watched with some joy as the myriad of angry emotions flashed through his face. She had spoken nothing but the truth. The only underage magic user that happened to be male that she knew of was Neville, and she didn't think the old man was looking for him.

At the very least if he was, she would happily send him on a wild goose chase deep into Kiri territory and hope for the worst. They were notoriously stab-happy whenever the subject of magicals were brought up. Apparently they were regarded with more disdain than those with bloodline limits there, which spoke volumes about how much they were hated.

She suspected that the majority of the anti-magical sentiment came from that particular direction, because the magicals would have gone there first since it was so similar to England and was closest to the harbors. It would certainly explain a lot...

"In any case, I need to find Harry Potter before he gets killed. His childish tantrums have been tolerated long enough," said Dumbledore firmly.

"I have no idea who this 'Harry Potter' is, but I did hear a few rumors that a boy with possible magical blood was last seen in Water country," she suggested sweetly.

Dumbledore, in a bid to get there as fast as possible to start the search, paid for a team of shinobi to take him to Water country. He made no mention of paying them to guard him, which was just as well.

Clearly he had realized that the Suna ninja (and the Konoha shinobi on loan) were not to happy to cater to his request, but would do it if only to get him far from their village.

Which was why she assigned Gaara with the note that if Dumbledore tried anything funny, he was allowed to use the jutsu she had forbidden him to use except on traitors or anyone outside the village and their allies.

After hearing that, Gaara's foul mood lessened enough for Temari to let loose a sigh of relief.

* * *

Dumbledore was surprised...and confused. He had heard rumors that Suna was one of the few shinobi villages that had accepted magicals and were making some headway into dispelling the damage Lucius and his family had done to their reputation in the shinobi lands.

But the welcome he received was as frosty as winter's chill, and just as friendly. Surprisingly, this attitude only seemed to extend towards him alone, and not to the small guard that had joined him from the Order.

Because of that, he told them to search the other major villages, started with Konoha.

The red head who walked beside him reminded him painfully of a younger male version of Lily Evans, only more dark. And he seemed to bear an unusual animosity towards him specifically.

Once they reached the borders of Water country, and he had sufficient directions to the Village of the Mist, he signed the mission scroll. He didn't noticed the look Gaara shot him.

Or how lucky he was that he hadn't tried to kidnap the boy...

* * *

"How long do you think it would take before someone kills him in there?" asked Temari over dinner.

Gaara seemed to be almost cheerful as he replied "With that stick and his looks, not long at all."

Kankuro seemed a bit freaked out by the expression on Gaara's face. He had thought it was horrifying to see Gaara looking murderous when he wasn't sleeping and a wall of sand heading your way...this was ten times worse in his opinion.

"So that was the infamous Dumbledore. I wonder why he kept referring to his errant student as Hari?"

"He seems to be under the strange impression that Nozomi is in fact male. He may not even be the person to place that perception spell on her in the first place...though that really begs the question as to _who_ had..." said Gaara.

"I remember her remarking that very few people knew that she was a girl back in school...and that they didn't see it until she mentioned it..." said Temari.

"Who knew?" asked Gaara.

"Just two of her father's friends. Sirius was one I believe."

"And the other was that werewolf she directed to Konoha. Last I heard he was courting the Inuzuka matriarch," said Kankuro.

"So out of the entire European magical communities, only her parents and the three friends were aware that she was a female. Which considerably narrows the possibilities."

By the time they had returned to Suna, they found the other magicals waiting for them.

Apparently Dumbledore had been spotted in a lot of trouble, and was currently trying to negotiate a proper deal with the new Mizukage to find the missing boy.

Though it was fairly hard since there hadn't been even a word of a boy with magic and a white owl anywhere _near_ Kiri.

* * *

"Sirius, I have a question to ask you..." said Nozomi.

Sirius looked up from his beer and at his goddaughter.

"What?"

"Do you know anyone who could have cast a perception spell before...that night?"

Sirius sat down his beer. He had been wondering when she would ask about that.

"I'm fairly certain Lily placed that spell on you."

Nozomi's heart nearly stopped.

"Mum? Why?"

"I asked her that same question when I learned of what she was looking up. Apparently Petunia had mentioned certain...rumors...surrounding her husband's tastes. From what I understand she didn't want to encourage those rumors or her husband's tastes, so she went along with the spell that made it seem like you were a boy. Considering the trouble he's in now, I think she was doing it to protect you."

"More like protect her reputation," snorted Nozomi.

"In any case, your mother only did it to protect you. And look at what was accomplished! You learned the truth about the old goat, you learned who you could actually trust, and you've managed to become one of the most powerful women in the Elemental Nations!"

"True. But that still doesn't mean I have to like being mistaken for a damn boy when I'm a girl!" she growled.

Sirius wisely kept his trap shut, and then decided to arrange an entire free day for his goddaughter where all her friends (he always counted Kiseki and Tsurara as friends and not maids) would have an entire girl's night out. If nothing else that would keep her from taking any bad days out on him!

* * *

Nozomi sighed with absolute relief. After the girl's night out, she had finally gotten down to reading the entire personnel files of all living shinobi in Suna. In the hope of an unbiased choice, she decided to allow anyone from a chunin to jounin, so long as they had participated at least once in the chunin exam and come out with good marks.

Gaara and Temari had taken the exam again when Suna hosted it (and Nozomi had cursed up a blue streak dealing with that paperwork!) and had come out as Chunin.

Kankuro had lost in the last round and his puppetry still needed a lot of work...which was why she chucked him to Granny Chiyo for extra training. It gave her an evil smile every time she passed by there and heard him swearing.

Shino had also passed the exam, as well as his old teammate Hinata. After an intense argument with Hiashi, Hinata was being transferred for six months to gain more experience. Nozomi could already see a marked improvement in her abilities.

As she read the files, marking those who could qualify to take the position and those who didn't, she slowly narrowed the field down to thirteen candidates. Since Gaara was among them, Nozomi politely removed herself from the voting.

It was a week later that she posted the news on the most used bulletin board.

"_The candidates for the position of Kazekage are as follows: Gaara no Subaku..._

_These candidates have been selected based on mission performance, psyche profiles, skills assessment, improvement in their specified fields, crisis management, intelligence level and general popularity. _

_Please note that this is an unbiased election, and as such the poll will not be released until all votes have been tallied. Also, any attempts to bribe those counting the votes or harming a candidate will be dealt with strictly and result in a severe fine and reduce in mission pay. Civilians are on their own if they antagonize the candidates. You have been warned._

_Interim Kazekage, Nozomi."_

* * *

Gaara paused by the apartment once he heard the news. He was surprised he was even in the running after the way he used to act.

"Are you going to vote as well?"

"Since you are in the running, no. Like I said on the notice, this is going to be unbiased and as your girlfriend I don't want you to lose just because we're dating," she shook her head.

"How did I even make it into the poll?"

"My clones and I went through the chunin and jounin rosters systematically, choosing people based on how well they did during missions and such. And your last psych profile proved that you are in fact improving since you aren't threatening to kill anyone who annoys you. Not to mention how well you did the last time I dragged you to a noble's party because you were bored out of your mind," she teased.

"That was evil and you know it," he growled.

"So? It was what convinced the council to allow you onto the list! The fact that you were able to handle that situation without harming the nobles was a bigger deciding factor than you realize...and I may have mentioned that you helped me balance the books..."

"I only did that because you wouldn't spend a night out with me otherwise," complained Gaara.

Nozomi grinned. Temari had been floored when she had mentioned offhand that Gaara liked to cuddle with her...and then she told her about the old teddy bear that Gaara used to have. Which was why on his birthday she presented him with a bear the same size he was...to the laughter of Temari and Kankuro. Gaara took one look at the bear and fell in love.

Now if Nozomi wasn't around, he would curl up to it, to the amusement of Sirius who took his best pictures to date.

"So what happened to the old goat?"

"Last I heard the Mizukage got so pissed at him that she actually castrated him before throwing him out of Water. Apparently he got too pushy in the search...and he's been blacklisted from Iwa, Kumo and most of the smaller villages because of it."

"How the hell did he manage that?"

"You know the Mist's reputation among the other major villages, right?"

"They are known as the Bloody Mist because of their old graduation program and their bloodthirsty manner. What of it?"

"Well if Mist blacklisted him, then what would that signify to you as a village?"

Gaara thought about that. Being blacklisted from a very bloody village...wasn't actually a good thing. It could easily mean that you were doing crimes against nature and anything in between.

"It was possible the mission was too horrific even for them, and that sort of thing doesn't exactly go over well for the more friendlier villages..."

"His only hope would be Konoha, Kusa or Oto. And from the way Anko reacted to my description and the fact that we're allies with Kusa from my poison recipes..."

"His only option would be to deal with Orochimaru, who is the shinobi equivalent to their current Dark Lord. Barring that he would have to find the person on foot, and since the general attitude towards magicals has only started to improve..."

"Either Dumbledore quits and finally leaves me alone for a few more years, or he gets killed for pissing off the wrong person. Either way, he's not my problem anymore."

Gaara had been beyond amused at the reaction the other magicals had to the fact that Nozomi had sent their precious leader straight into a civil war hotzone that had yet to cool down.

This amusement only grew after they saw Hedwig (an owl they were very familiar with) land on her shoulder and nuzzle her in a very familiar way.

It took them some time to get over the fact that their boy-who-lived was in fact the girl-who-lived, and she had no intention of returning in this lifetime.

Nozomi had given them one final message to deliver should Dumbledore ever get back.

"_I got rid of whatever connection I shared with Voldemort. As far as I am concerned, he is not my problem. He never was. I only considered him a major nuisance...whereas the headmaster was a major threat. Tell him next time he decides to place a child in a know pedophile's house, he should take a long hard look in the mirror first."_

(A week after hearing the bit about Vernon's tastes, Nozomi had private investigators look into the rumors. She was very horrified to learn that they were in fact true. And she never complained about the spell her mother placed on her again. Though her hatred of the old goat increased greatly that she could kill him and never lose sleep over it.)

The two sat together on the couch watching an action flick that had caught Nozomi's interest. Nozomi had her head on his shoulder and Gaara was doing his best not to jar her too much. Their relationship was a series of hit and miss, especially since Nozomi had taken over the Kage's office to keep the paperwork from piling up and the village from running itself into the ground.

Some of the experiments she had uncovered had appalled the council as much as it did her.

The two spent the night just relaxing after a hellish day of paperwork.


	13. Chapter 13

Nozomi looked at the very short list of people with interest. It didn't really surprise her that Gaara was still in the lead for the Kazekage position, especially since he had been mending the bridges that the previous had burned through those assassination attempts. At least the families of those victims rightfully placed the blame on the dead man who assigned them in the first place.

Gaara had already proven that he had a good head on his shoulders, and he had saved several jounin in hostile areas without even asking for thanks. The fact that he had read the law books and was dating the most popular noble living in Suna actually gained him more votes.

At least the shinobi weren't bothering the candidates. After the first idiot had tried and was publicly humiliated, the others knew better than to try again. Though three of the people selected got dropped after their ego had gotten the better of them. They took the hint with grace.

The actual election would take place once the field was narrowed down to at least four possibilities. With the way Gaara was going, it was very possible that he would be chosen even without any help from Nozomi.

After realizing that, she had offered to lend him her assistants to deal with the evil demons she faced every day. In private of course.

* * *

McGonagall was on a mission. She had to contact Hope without getting badly injured in the process. Fortunately she had a few things on her side.

One, Hope genuinely liked her and didn't bear a grudge...even after McGonagall had apologized for not checking up on her and trusting the old man. Two, she actually knew that Hope was female having gone to visit the Potters before they went into hiding. And three...she was going to Suna without being under orders from said old goat and had found the trick used on him amusing.

She walked into the shinobi village in an outfit that would fit the region. After hearing the reactions to magicals, she had decided to try and fit in instead of wearing her usual outfit. Though she did cast a cooling charm to stay comfortable.

A red haired boy helping with the sentry duty took one look at her and gave her directions to the Kage Tower.

She soon found herself facing an amused Hope...along with two girls who were definitely muggleborns just now learning magic.

"Hello Hope. I'm glad to see that you are thriving," she said pleasantly.

It took a good two seconds for that name to sink in, and she blinked in surprise.

"You knew?"

"I assumed Lily had a reason to learn that spell, and I was one of the few who helped her learn how to cast it properly. Her Scottish wasn't that good to use in spellcasting."

While that bit of news was interesting, it wasn't why her former teacher had come looking for her specifically. At least she had enough sense to recognize a damn henge and called her by her actual name. She was already up in the intelligence polls by a fair margin over the old goat.

"What do you need McGonagall-sensei?" she asked politely.

Hearing that term the other girls straightened up. It was very rare for Nozomi to show any magicals respect.

"I need safe haven for some of the students. With Voldemort active again, their families will be targeted. And I would rather not have deaths that could be avoided."

"What are the family names? If any one of them is Malfoy or someone who was friendly with them I can't help their predicament."

"Greengrass, Davies, Moon, Abbot, Bones, and Zabini among others," she admitted.

"Hmm...I could possibly help Blaise, Tracy, Daphne, and Lythiel. Provided they behave in the country I send them to. The Malfoys really screwed up any positive relations with the shinobi. If it wasn't for the fact that I _earned_ their respect before telling them I had magic, it would still be pretty bad."

McGonagall was no fool, despite having trusted a senile old man with ambitions greater than himself. She had noticed the girl training and ditching her former friends. She just pretended not to notice for years.

And the look Hope once gave her once she cottoned on to that fact...well it cemented her as her favorite teacher. It certainly made telling her and apologizing for leaving her there a hell of a lot easier.

"I'll give them a trial run. If they can handle Suna, which is actually one of the easier ones to live in if you can handle the high temps during the day and the almost sub zero ones at night, then I can send them to Konoha later. At the very least Dumbledore and the Ministry looses all claim on them once they touch shinobi borders," said Nozomi.

"What about the Weasly family?"

"Anyone other than Molly, Ginny and Ron are acceptable. Hell, Bill could join the ruin explorers and help them out. I'm sure he'd get a real kick out of it. At the very least we might be able to fund the treasury with that instead of the funding from my company."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. Hope had been funding an entire ninja village all this time?

"How could you fund this village? I know your family was rich, but even you would run out eventually!"

Nozomi wagged her finger in amusement.

"Ah, but I have been getting my money back! Every mission above D rank automatically pays me at least fifteen percent commission, twenty if it's an S rank. And ever since I started to run this place the missions from the other nobles have been pouring in by the dozens. Plus it secured a safe zone for me to run to after leaving Europe where the Ministry _can't _touch me! So you see it all evens out in the end!" she said with glee.

McGonagall had to admit, the plan was a sound one. She got more out of the deal than the village did, and all for a little judicious use of her family money.

"I will try to get them here within a month," she said.

"I'll get one of the apartment buildings back up to code. The one I'm using is currently full up," she waved.

When the old cat left, it was with a sense of pride...and the knowledge that her former student had at least found some happiness and peace from the mess the headmaster had created.

* * *

Blaize was one of the few selected to start the trek to Sand. It was one of the very, very few ninja villages that didn't hate magical blood on sight. Why, he had no idea, but he had a damn good guess at it.

Since Voldemort's return, Slytherin had become a hell on earth to be if you didn't support him. There were very few who were able to keep up the lie that they did and get away with it.

So when the old cat discreetly asked through Snape (shocking those who knew damn well he was a spy for both sides) if they wanted to go to a village where they could be free from Voldemort...but would have to live with the infamous shinobi.

Well, it wasn't really a difficult choice. Particularly for the girls. They knew painfully well that should the Dark Lord win, they would become little more than cattle to breed.

So choosing to live in a nation full of killers who looked at them with disinterest was an easy choice.

"So what do you know of Sand Blaize?" asked Daphne. Her bag was full of all her things, and her younger sister would soon be joining her if this succeeded.

"Only that they are currently in an economic recovery, and that the person running it is a noble who volunteered until a new leader could be chosen from the ranks," admitted Blaize. He had asked the goblins who were surprisingly enough well informed on that particular village.

"A noble? I thought they didn't tolerate nobles running their place?" said Tracey from behind.

"Ah, but this noble took up their ways as a hobby and from what I heard she took it very seriously. Seriously enough to join missions with the heavy hitters and come out on top. So they respect her as a fellow warrior at the least."

"Any idea why they are the only ones to accept magicals with little complaints in their borders?" asked Susan Bones.

"No idea."

Susan's aunt was on the fast track to be fired for false accusations...that and she was one of the best. If they Dark Lord could arrange it, he would have had her killed months ago.

Chances were high that the second she was fired she would join her niece. Death Eaters had _nothing_ on trained shinobi and they damn well knew it!

A week into the ocean they saw land. And a large group of shinobi along with a well dressed and very hot woman looking amused.

There was just one problem. Blaize recognized her.

"That's Potter!" he said in shock.

"It can't be Potter. He was killed somewhere in Water country last I heard!" said Daphne in disbelief.

"Potter is female. I don't know who cast that particular spell on her to fool everyone, but I saw through it from the start. I wonder why she's here..." said Blaize in concern.

"If Potter is here...then why the hell did Dumbledore go all the way into that war zone?" asked Hannah.

"I don't know, but I get the feeling the story is going to do the snake house proud," said Blaize.

"Welcome to Sand, or at least the borders of it," said Nozomi amused.

"Hello Potter. Surprised the spell is starting to fall," said Blaize pleasantly.

She raised an eyebrow.

"You knew the whole time?"

"That kind of spell doesn't bother someone from my family. Sidhe blood counteracts most illusions."

"Good to know. Anyway, I have an entire apartment complex just for refugees, so it should be comfortable. Just don't be overt with your magic or piss off the shinobi, and they could care less if you walked out naked drunk off your ass. They tolerate magic users because of me, and as long as you show them proper respect they'll tolerate you," said Nozomi.

"Good to know," said Blaize. He was the unofficial leader of their group only because he had asked around before hand and knew more than they did.

"Also, if you do well here I _could _send you to Konoha were the temperature is a bit more favorable but the attitude is still iffy. Neville has already established a good reputation so it should still be acceptable."

"Neville, as in Neville _Longbottom_?!" said Hannah in shock.

"That Neville. He's been there over a month and he's already gotten on their good side by his plant hybrids. Plus he keeps the resident prankster calmed down which was a huge factor in his favor," said Nozomi shrugging.

One the shock was over with, the group made their way towards the center of the sunk in village. For a place in economic recovery, it looked like a thriving city.

"I thought this place was recovering?" asked Blaize.

"They were. It just recently went from recovering to thriving. We're currently trying to shore up our shinobi forces so we can return to being a major powerhouse."

"We?" asked Daphne.

"I'm currently in charge until we find some other poor soul to deal with the paperwork. Dear kami the paperwork..." she shuddered.

Seeing their shinobi escort wince in sympathy spoke volumes about her issues with paperwork.

* * *

It took an entire month, but in the end they found the place to their liking. Once they got over the fact that doing random chores using magic was frowned upon, they learned that hiring the academy students to do them anyway was much easier.

Nozomi had to explain to them how the system worked, but once she did that they got the basic gist. As far as the shinobi were concerned, they were civilians with an unusual bloodline limit that were too old to learn jutsu.

Though running into Sirius Black had been rather amusing in Nozomi's opinion.

* * *

_Flashback no jutsu!_

Susan was getting the groceries when she spotted him. Fortunately for all involved Nozomi happened to be nearby and kept Susan from screaming.

"Look it's not what you think. He's actually innocent."

"Not what I think?!" she said hysterically. It was only the other girl's presence that kept her from reaching for her wand.

"Okay, let me put it this way. Who was in charge of the investigation of his so called betrayal?"

"Crouch."

"And what evidence other than the word of a man who was supposedly killed was there that he betrayed the Potters?"

"Well he started laughing like a madman..." she said with doubt.

"And?"

"That's all I know."

"What would you do if one of your friends had framed you for betraying a man that was practically your brother in all but blood and you knew that there was little proof otherwise?" she asked sensibly.

Susan stopped and thought that one over.

"But still...Azkaban..."

"He is perfectly safe to be around as long as he isn't in one of his moods, and then you are in your right to hex him bald," said Nozomi.

"His moods?" she repeated.

"Um...He's one of the people that the Terror Twins idolize and the cause of most of McGonagall's gray hairs back when he was in school?"

Susan thought that one over, paled and nodded. She got the idea. She would have to warn the others, but it was better than being on the wrong side of someone those twins idolized...

Nozomi nodded in satisfaction, before getting lunch and returning to her office.

_Flashback end!_

* * *

After two months, another boat full of magicals trying to escape the situation back home came in. Fortunately Nozomi knew very well how things really were back in Europe. Which was why she commissioned three different apartment buildings for them to use. Each was big enough for the Weasly family, which was more than enough for those brave enough to live in Suna.

Though three of the witches had left for Konoha, since Neville had managed to bring their reputation up enough.

During that time, the number of candidates for Kazekage had been dropped to four, and Gaara was still in the lead, to the surprise of many.

Soon the election would be held, and more than one village was eager to see the result.

(Though Nozomi had inadvertently caused a bit of a rift between the shinobi and civilian council in Konoha by innocently asking Tsunade when Konoha became a democracy over a dictatorship. After looking into that, Tsunade removed the civilian council except for an elected representative which to the shock of many _wasn't_ on the previous one. Naruto found his life suddenly take a turn for the better as shops slowly stopped their ban on him.)

Nozomi read the tallies in surprise and delight. The magicals had added up the number of votes (some of which were barely neutral to her, which insured a unbiased view) and the results were posted on the boards.

To the shock of most (but not all as Gaara had consistently stayed at the top for months) it was Gaara who had won the election.

Gaara was surprised but stayed levelheaded. Though some looked into why he had even stayed in the running and found a surprising answer.

The few times Nozomi took him with her to noble parties, he had made a very favorable impression. It was the nobles who had helped keep his stats at the top, not his girlfriend. Plus he had steadily been gaining allies in the ranks, knew the law books because he had read them out of boredom, had made several friends in Konoha through Naruto and his girlfriend had admitted that he had helped her balance the books and go through the paperwork.

The fact that his mission record held a consistent number of good reviews and completion marks didn't hurt either.

Gaara walked up to the stage and accepted the Kazekage hat at the age of nearly 17. He was the youngest Kage among the five, followed closely by the Mizukage. To top it all off, Nozomi made sure to kiss him in full view of everyone, essentially staking her claim so the magicals didn't get any ideas.

She had seen the looks the girls gave him. There wasn't a chance in hell she was letting him slip through her fingers!

* * *

*Just to clarify since someone asked why everyone in the Magical world saw her as a boy when the shinobi didn't, the spell relies on the other person's magical core, which most shinobi don't have or are too low to be effected. Besides they are trained to look underneath the underneath, so they made sure they had the right gender to begin with.


	14. Chapter 14

"Why did I agree to this job again?" asked Gaara.

"Because it was either you accept it or someone less qualified and possibly just as bad as he was would take it?" said Nozomi.

Because of how adept Nozomi had gotten with paperwork, Gaara had asked her to deal with the budget. It didn't shock many that the council didn't raise a fuss despite the fact Gaara was now the new village leader.

If anyone was to comment on that oddity, the council would claim that she had asked to keep an eye on her 'investments'.

It was a flimsy lie so obvious that even the magicals saw through it, but no one cared to complain. If the new Kazekage had someone to help with his paperwork, that was his business. It made many of the other Kages jealous, but who cared what they thought? It was their own fault for not figuring out how to destroy the paperwork on their own.

* * *

Nozomi was practically vibrating. Someone was coming in from Europe that she had missed dearly.

The moment she spotted that long pale blond hair, she started waving wildly. Luna grinned from the deck and waved back.

The moment the ship docked, Nozomi tackled the girl in a hug. Gaara watched on amused.

Today was his rare day off from the paperwork, and he intended to enjoy every minute of it! Fortunately Nozomi took pity on him and handled half, but it was still an evil demon!

"Luna-chan! I'm so glad you finally made it!"

"Hello Nozomi. I see you finally found a boy worth your time."

Gaara suddenly found the ground very interesting. His personality had mellowed out considerably, and he was starting to act more and more like a normal teenager with a cheerful and energetic girlfriend. At least he never had to worry about her cheating on him.

(Anyone who even considered her available quickly ran off once she mentioned _who_ her boyfriend was.)

Once Luna got settled in for a short time before heading to Konoha, (her father found the shinobi very interesting, and after awhile that interest became mutual) she talked to Gaara for a bit. She wanted to know who her best friend's boyfriend was and what he was like.

And found him to be a fascinating person, to Gaara's horror. He wouldn't kill her because he loved Nozomi, but Luna flat out terrified him.

Something that would amuse Nozomi when she learned of it.

A week after Luna's appearance (and Gaara's new found fear of anything blond, female and almost as terrifying as his sister on PMS) Gaara decided to do something he had been considering for months now. Sirius had decided to chip in his two bits and had given him something to use (since Gaara had nothing of his birth mother and Temari didn't either) he planned the setting.

No one would actually complain since Nozomi was well liked and respected, and there was actually a betting pool on when he would finally make a move...

* * *

Gaara scheduled the best restaurant in Suna, which happened to serve Nozomi's favorites. She had taken the girls there once on a night off and had come back with very good reviews of the place. Her partner Fenrir was going to be staying the night at home.

Fenrir was the largest hound he had ever seen, and he had developed a strange chakra-based ability to run on hot sand without slipping. The few missions Nozomi had taken during her tenure as the interim Kage (only because she wouldn't dare send any shinobi on a mission she wouldn't take herself and it was a legitimate excuse to avoid paperwork to her assistants annoyance) had shown that their teamwork was unmatched except for the Sand siblings.

Tsurara and Kiseki had officially been labeled her team, though even they had taken missions without her. They had more or less become an accepted part of the village after a few months.

Nozomi, suspecting something big was up, was wearing one of her more fancy yakutas. It was early summer, and one of the Suna festivals had just started. Her hair was done up in an elaborate braid, since she had let it grow out after moving to Suna. The owl pin that Gaara had gotten her all those years ago was placed delicately at the top of her braid, and it looked like a tiny white owl was nestling on her head.

She was wearing little jewelry, but what she did have on accentuated her natural features. She wore almost no makeup, aside from a light dusting of blush and a little lipstick. Her ears had two amber droplets that looked like spun sand.

All in all, she was beautiful and the best looking girl in Suna.

The moment Gaara saw her outfit, simple as it was, he felt woefully under-dressed. Fortunately for him, he did own a few semi casual outfits that brought out his better features. Since Jiraiya fixed his seal, he no longer looked like a sleep deprived tanuki.

The eye markings were still there, but they weren't nearly as obvious now.

The two went out into the festival and enjoyed the night.

After the dinner (which went off without a hitch, thankfully) the two enjoyed the festival. Gaara won a few prizes for Nozomi, to her amusement. Ever since she came to Suna, they had added a few stuffed owls...one of which bore a very strong resemblance to Hedwig, to her delight.

After winning the doll, Gaara took her to the best spot to view the lights and the rays of moonlight shining down. It was also restricted to shinobi of jounin rank or higher. It was thankfully empty of jounin, seeing as most were still down in the festival or on guard duty.

As a light summer breeze blew through the canopy, Nozomi turned when she felt a movement beside her.

Gaara had gotten down on one knee as he asked her to marry him. Her heart stopped a beat before she said yes with a blush on her face.

The two turned when the flash went off, and found Temari and Luna with a camera, both of which were grinning.

"Congrats, you two. It's about time!" said Temari.

"I believe you won the pool, did you not?" said Luna amused.

"What pool?" asked Nozomi.

"About when he would finally propose," said Temari.

Nozomi blushed heavily, but said nothing. Tonight was the happiest time of her life!

* * *

Nozomi groaned as she threw the alarm clock at the wall. She hated mornings with a passion. As she got up, she noted the newest addition to her hand. A smile spread across her face.

The thin silver ring symbolized that one of her biggest dreams were coming true. Her best friend and boyfriend had finally gotten the courage to ask her. The two had been going out for nearly two years since Konoha's infamous invasion by Sound, and they had finally started to get serious.

Gaara was Kazekage, she was his assistant and now fiancee. The only thing that could make it better was if Naruto, the boy she would have happily adopted into her small family were able to come to the wedding.

They had set the date right after her birthday. She had already sent out invitations to people she actually _wanted_ to come.

Like Remus and Neville.

Last she heard, Remus had just married the Inuzuka matriarch Tsume, and the woman was already showing signs. Neville, to the surprise of everyone, was actually dating _two_ girls.

Hannah Abbot from Europe...and to the shock and amusement of a few people the daughter of the man who owned the Ichiraku Ramen stand. It had apparently been Hannah's idea to have a seocnd girl added, and Ayame agreed. He had already made a real name for himself in the village with his plant hybrids and poison combinations.

As she sent Hedwig off with the few invitations Gaara had for people he actually liked, she thought of how her life had come to this point.

When she had started Hogwarts, wide eyed and naïve of how dark the wizards could be, she had no idea that her knowledge of other languages and financing would free her from a prison not of her own making.

She shuddered, once, when she thought of what could have happened had she not taken such an interest in languages and math at such an early age. Those times Dudley chased her into the library and forced her to stay until it closed (and a rare few times she had managed to stay an entire night) had given her the tools she used today.

But it wasn't that had given her the very edge she needed to survive the Dursley house.

When she was six, a man bearing a red and white fan design on vacation had seen how her cousin treated her. He had only one eye, the left one being closed by a long scar. He had waited until she was alone in the small forest outside her school...and he had shown her how to unlock her chakra.

It was his help unlocking a power she had no idea even existed that had spurred her to learn Japanese. The few odd scrolls and what she later learned was a seal had only strengthened this desire to the point where she could live in the Elemental countries without anyone realizing she was a witch.

His name...had been Obito Uchiha.

The day before he mysteriously left her, never to be seen again, he told her what happened to his left eye.

And how he was able to come at that exact point and time to help her.

* * *

_Flashback..._

_Obito looked amused at her curious gaze, and he seemed to be the only person who realized she was a girl from the start._

"_What happened to your eye, Obito?"_

"_I had this pair of friends. My teammates Rin and Kakashi. Kakashi was a real jerk, always going on about rules and regulations, even though he was younger than me. His dad had killed himself because of a failed mission everyone blamed him for. Rin was so obsessed with Kakashi that she never paid any head to me unless she had to._

"_One day we had a mission to destroy a bridge that supplied our enemy, because we were at war with another village called Rock. At one point Rin was captured, and I argued with Kakashi to save her. Eventually I left to rescue her myself._

_Obito chuckled._

"_I was a fool. I had no plan, a barely awakened bloodline limit and only a half assed scheme to save her. After I took out one of the enemy shinobi, I found out that Kakashi had finally gotten the stick out of his ass and followed me. We went in, found Rin and killed the kidnappers."_

"_What happened?" asked Hope._

"_One of them was still barely alive, or they had a comrade nearby. Either way, a large sheet of rock came falling down upon us. I pushed Kakashi and Rin out of the way, but I was pinned. Only the left half of my face was even clear of the rock. My teammate, Kakashi, had just lost his left eye to one of the enemy shinobi. My other teammate, who we had just saved, transplanted my left eye to Kakashi at my request."_

"_How did you escape?" she asked wide eyed._

"_As I lay there, dying, some force inside me started to grow and grow until it burst out. Without warning I was freed and sent to a woman known throughout the Elemental nations as the Slug Princess. Her other nickname was the Legendary Sucker, but that was mostly because her gambling luck was so bad," he chuckled._

_Hope was wide eyed, and amazed. The Elemental Nations sounded dangerous, but it also seemed a lot kinder than England by a long shot. At least there people didn't frown if you fought back to protect yourself or look at you strange if you had an odd power._

"_She healed me enough that I lived, but I didn't feel alive. I wandered the Nations, looking for why I escaped with my life. It wasn't until I came here that I found the reason. Back in my home, there are a race known as Magicals with extraordinary powers. But they are shunned because they abuse their gift worse than my clan did with their eyes._

"_I never knew it until that day, but I had a larger than normal spark of magic inside of me, and it awakened full force to save my life."_

"_Why didn't you go home?"_

"_I thought about it long and hard, but the memories were too painful. Then I heard that my teacher, the new Fourth Hokage, had been killed sealing the demon nine tailed fox into an infant. I couldn't bear to go back to a village where my family and friends all thought I had died."_

_Hope sat there, and let that sink in._

"_I may one day return, but not for a long while. Should you ever need my help, just send me a letter. No matter where I am I will come to find you, little Hope."_

"_Thank you, Obito-sensei!" she said with joy. That had been the first Japanese lesson he had given her. The next day, he bid her goodbye, but not before giving her a small spark of magic so any letter she wrote would find him._

_Sometimes, whenever she did her homework she wrote a small letter just to have someone to talk to. A few times she found a letter among a book she had just picked up with a reply._

_Flashback end..._

Nozomi thought long and hard. When she got the replies back from Naruto and others who were abroad, she dipped her long forgotten quill into the ink with practiced ease, and began to write.

"_Dear Obito_

_It has been a long time hasn't it? A lot has changed since my last letter. Ever since I left Europe for good, I haven't had any chance to send you a letter since the failed invasion that I helped to stop._

_I contact you now with good news._

_The last time I wrote to you, I mentioned a boy name Gaara no Subaku, the son of the Kazekage, though I didn't know that at the time we met. I write to you to say that I am getting married to that same boy...and I would love it if you were to attend. You were the first real friend I have ever had, and the thought of you not being there to witness it hurts._

_There will be Konoha shinobi there, but I doubt anyone would recognize you on sight._

_Inclosed is an invitation to the wedding. If you are too far to make it on time, let me know so I can send you a port key._

_Love, Nozomi."_

Hedwig waited patiently for her master to place the invitation on her leg. It felt different from all the others. More important.

"Fly far, and fly fast my beloved Hedwig," she whispered.

_In an undisclosed location near the mountains..._

* * *

Obito looked up to see a familiar owl who he hadn't seen in months. Hope had transferred some of the magic sliver to her owl, and it could always find him. He lifted his hand to find an interesting envelope as opposed to the scroll.

Opening it he raised an eyebrow and a deep-throat chuckle came out. So the little hope was getting married to the one tailed jinchuriki?

At the very least she found a loyal and loving husband.

Reading the letter, he smiled. He reached into his pouch full of sealing supplies and started to write a letter. He had returned to the Elemental nations to keep an eye on her the day he learned she had left England. She had been quite busy in those two short years.

And now she wanted him to be there when she married the one boy who gave her a chance at being truly happy and would never betray her. Despite the fact that there would be Konoha shinobi there, he decided to take a chance.

He could only hope that _that_ person wouldn't make an appearance as well.

There was a rumor among the Uchiha that Madara, the founder of the clan, was not actually dead. That he had learned to jump between main branch members to survive.

Obito was among the main branch, not that anyone had actually acknowledged or remembered that fact after his first hints of an actual personality came to light. Outside the clan, everyone assumed he was a close cousin to the main branch.

And he had come very close to seeing Madara that day the rock fell on him and he sacrificed his left eye to help his teammate. The very idea of almost becoming that man's pawn had him training and learning more trick as he possibly could in case he ever came back.

If Madara _was_ alive and still kicking, then one of his targets would be Konoha. And as long as Obito was alive, he would not let the village fall.

He sent the reply to his only student that he would claim, and waited for the wheel of fate to turn once again. He knew she would go far one day.


	15. Chapter 15

Nozomi was anxious, and with good reason. She was wearing a kimono that she had never thought she would be able to wear, and Temari fussing over her with the approval of her two assistants wasn't helping at all. Gaara was in another room, also being fussed over by his brother and one of the few people who actually _knew_ what he was supposed to do at this time.

So as she looked out the slit nervously, she was very surprised to see her owl return with another message from her old friend.

_Under henge, right near the door on the left._

She looked...and suddenly all her nervous energy finally vanished.

She had seen his preferred Henge the day he left her. Though she had bitterly cursed the teacher who had sent him away with that police report.

Sure, they ignored obvious signs of abuse from her relatives but the moment someone takes an interest in her well being enough to teach her how to fight, suddenly the faculty take action. It was hypocrisy at it's finest.

The lawsuit she later hit the school with courtesy of the goblins sent more than one crappy teacher to the unemployment line. The very few teachers who _had_ tried to do something before they were forced to stop had at least kept their jobs...even if they were sent to other schools.

"Alright, what the hell is up? One second you're nervous as someone facing Gaara in a battle before he calmed down, now you're completely relaxed," asked Temari. As the sister of the groom, she was her second while Naruto (who had just managed to convince the sannin to take a break from their training journey long enough to come) was Gaara's best man.

"My first real friend finally showed up," she said.

Temari looked at her surprised.

"Where are they?"

Nozomi gave her precise coordinates, and Temari stared.

"That old guy who looks like an older Naruto with black hair and green eyes?"

"His name is Obito. He's the one who taught me enough about chakra that I was able to actually learn jutsu. If it wasn't for him, I never would have tried to learn Japanese or how to use weapons."

"I never knew that."

"Neither does Gaara. I'm hoping he'll stay long enough for me to introduce him to my friends. He's originally from Konoha if I remember right."

Temari stared a little longer, before returning to her previous task of make up coordination. Kiseki had to deal with jewelry while Tsurara adjusted the kimono.

Luna was the one keeping Nozomi from moving too much during the entire process.

Fifteen minutes later, the music started and Nozomi did exactly as she had been taught.

* * *

Two hours later, she and Gaara were finally married. Obito waited until there was a chance to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Glad to see you smiling, little Hope. Though I suppose you're not so little anymore," said Obito.

"I'm so glad you could make it!" she said with relief.

"Nozomi, who is this?"

"My very first friend. He was the one who got me interest in the shinobi arts and Japanese language. Gaara, meet Obito Uchiha, my first sensei."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Nozomi told me quite a bit before she took up the interim Kage position," said Obito, holding out his hand.

Gaara shook it firmly, noting the calluses. The warmth in the man's eyes proved he was as kind as his new wife had claimed...though there was something off about him.

"Why are you under a henge?" he finally asked.

"A few old friends here would recognize me too quickly. Unless you would like to see that old scarecrow in the corner look like he's seen a ghost?"

"Only if you give me time to bring out the camera," said Nozomi mischievously.

Obito chuckled. It seemed Suna had done wonders for Nozomi.

Sometime before the after party dispersed, Nozomi made sure to talk to the Konoha shinobi, including Kakashi. Obito pretended to come up with her as an old acquaintance, but in reality was handing her the camera.

She signaled Naruto to get ready with his, which he carried everywhere. Hanging around Nozomi had taught him the fine art of blackmail and incriminating evidence. Something Jiraiya had cursed more than once.

Kakashi quickly noted the henge, and discreetly removed it thinking it was an assassin because of the fact he was right behind her and next to the drink table.

The look of absolute shock on his face remained long enough for Nozomi and Naruto to take three pictures before he fainted. Naruto grinned evilly as he took many pictures...before _finally_ removing the infamous mask and taking so many of that before he realized someone else was behind him looking with interest.

"Huh, so that's what he looked like under that."

Naruto turned to find a man roughly Kakashi's age with only his right eye...wearing an Uchiha crest on his back.

"Who are you? And why did _he_ faint when he saw you?"

Obito chuckled evilly, which alerted Naruto that the man was a prankster like him.

"My name is Uchiha. Uchiha Obito. And I used to be his teammate before a rock slide caused by an Iwa nin killed me."

Naruto paled a bit before he heard Nozomi laughing. She was telling her guests _why_ Kakashi was passed out cold looking like he had been slapped silly with a fish.

"At least it was supposed to kill me. My magic saved me before I could die. So how do you know him?"

"He's my genin sensei. Wait, if you're an Uchiha, does that mean you're related to Sasuke-teme?"

Obito grinned widely.

"Sasuke? As in Mikoto and Fugaku's youngest? I remember him vaguely. Last time I saw him he nearly ripped out Fugaku's hair and had lobbed a fairly good sized glob of vomit on Itachi's shirt."

Naruto, realizing who Obito was, grinned evilly.

"Do you have any _other_ embarrassing stories you'd care to share?" he asked, eyes glinting.

Obito slung an arm around him (dispelling the worry Naruto had that he was a solid ghost) and grinned like the prankster he was.

"Oh my boy, I have _loads_ of stories to tell you."

If Kakashi had been conscious, he would have felt the shiver that came from an unholy alliance bent on humiliating him with personal information no one should ever know...

* * *

The next morning saw a change in Suna. Gaara and Nozomi spent their honeymoon in the village close to Suna that was a known tourist hot spot, since Gaara couldn't leave too far away from Suna.

Meanwhile, Naruto had found an evil ally in Obito, the most un-Uchiha like person he had ever met. And he finally learned where his sensei got his Sharingan eye. Naturally the two pranksters hit it off like old friends.

Naruto was howling with laughter as Obito told him pranks against Kakashi, and some of the more outrageous excuses he used. Obito was chuckling when he learned of Naruto's pranks, and had been impressed by the boy's Oiroke no Jutsu.

Kakashi, once he got over his shock and learned that yes, Obito was in fact _alive_ and there for the wedding, soon found his old teammate...and learned how the magic and Nozomi had changed the man who used to come to missions late with the most silly excuses.

Obito was highly amused that Kakashi seemed to inherit his little quirk and was annoyed that he stole some of his better excuses. Finding out that the same rule abiding teen turned into an irredeemable pervert, however, made him laugh his ass off.

When Naruto reluctantly left with Jiraiya, they found they had a new traveling companion. Naruto couldn't be happier, since Obito was a walking encyclopedia of jutsu and magic thanks to his sharingan and travels over the years, but Jiraiya was still worried.

* * *

_(For a little while, this story will focus on Obito until he returns to Suna and visits Nozomi...a day before Deidara and Sasori show up to kidnap Gaara. Then the real fun will begin...after I catch up to Shippuden. I am sadly _very _behind on that aspect of Naruto.)_

Obito knew the toad sage recognized him, and he wasn't happy about the fact that he joined him on the journey with Naruto. Even if Obito did earn his keep by helping Naruto in his training. He knew quite a lot of wind ninjutsu, most of which came from the Fourth Hokage himself.

And he wasn't a fool like most of Konoha. The moment he laid eyes on the boy he _knew_ who Naruto was.

Naruto was the child Minato and Kushina were going to have before he changed his mind about returning home. He had been gone so long that the idea of returning to an empty house broke his heart. His mother had died in her sleep a few weeks after she learned he had died saving his teammate, and learning Kakashi had his sharingan hadn't helped.

And Minato didn't need the distraction of reacquainting him back into the Konoha shinobi forces.

About a month of traveling with Jiraiya, he waited for Naruto to go to bed before cornering the perverted sannin.

"We need to talk."

"I agree. I've waited long enough, and you have some explaining to do."

Obito sat down drinking his sake slowly.

"Why did you wait so long to reveal yourself?" asked Jiraiya.

"My memories were too painful, especially after sensei died because of my ancestor's tricks."

"What?"

"Madara. He was there Jiraiya. I saw him slip into some cave...and then ten minutes later there was a scream and the most cold chakra I have ever felt came out. Next thing I know the Kyuubi is loose and Kushina was barely hanging on by a thread. I did what I could to save her and protect Naruto. You should have seen her face when she realized who I was."

"I can imagine."

"I managed to heal the worst of the injuries, and handed Naruto to sensei. I didn't know he was going to seal the Kyuubi into him. Sensei was shocked, but from what I could tell he thought that because he was so close to dying anyway I had to be ghost."

"Did sensei know you were there?"

"I was the one who recovered him from the corpse of Minato-sensei. Sarutobi saw me but I don't think he recognized who I was at the time. No one bothered to stop me when I left."

"Why didn't you stay? Protect Naruto?"

Obito looked at the sannin squarely.

"Because of what I am. I survived that rock slide because I have magic. More than most at any rate. It took all I had just to come near Konoha. You know how the attitude towards magicals was back then. If they knew..."

Jiraiya conceded his point. If Obito _had_ returned at that time, after his death was released, it would raise a lot of questions...and when they learned how he survived, they would have treated him just as bad as Naruto.

"Where have you been? And why did you come back now of all times?"

"First off, after I learned I had magic and saved Naruto, I went to England. It was there that I found a little girl with bright green eyes that reminded me so much of Itachi, only heavily abused. Her name...was Hope."

"Nozomi? The blushing bride and interim Kage of Suna?" he said in surprise.

"The same. She was only six, but she barely looked like she was four. None of the teachers at her school even noticed or cared about the signs. I taught her what I could, and not one of them cared that she was skipping class. It wasn't until someone noticed I was taking a real interest in her that they got suspicious and called the police. I had to leave her, but not without at least giving her _someone_ to talk to that she could trust to listen."

"You're the one who showed her how to unlock her chakra?"

"I was. I spent the next few years keeping her from slitting her wrists out of despair when suddenly she started replying though that owl of hers. If it wasn't for her distinct handwriting on the letter I might have killed it. After that I kept her from loosing herself in that damn magical community that tried to crush her with their expectations."

"How bad was it?"

"They expected an eleven year old child to protect them from their Dark Lord problem, and they didn't even care to check on her once she was out of school for the summer. I was the only person she could trust without question. It was because of me she learned that her two friends who she thought she could trust with her secret turned out to be spies for the headmaster. And thanks to me she knew enough about the Elemental nations to survive living there without giving away her secret."

"Why did you come back now though?"

"Simple. Nozomi asked me to come for the wedding, and I saw the signs that the winds of fate were blowing. And I knew she would be right in the center of that mess."

"She was your first student wasn't she?"

"The only one I have ever taken."

Jiraiya sighed. While he wasn't happy that a boy who was Minato's supposedly dead student suddenly showed up, he could see the bright side. Obito harbored Naruto no ill will, and he could help the boy more than Jiraiya himself could with his elemental training.

"So tell me, how did it feel to be a teacher?"

"It was one of the best feelings in the world," said Obito, raising his sake glass.

Jiraiya laughed heartily and poured him another glass.

"A toast then, to teachers and their insanely powerful students!" said Jiraiya.

"Here, here!" chuckled Obito.

The two clinked their glasses, and proceeded to get drunk off their asses.

* * *

Naruto walked in on an amusing sight, and made sure to take a picture for blackmail later.

Obito and Jiraiya, both suffering with the monster of all hangovers, looking like they wanted to die right then and there.

Still, he liked Obito enough not to laugh at them. Jiraiya he would have made suffer though.

"What can you hold down?" he asked quietly.

"Bread. And bacon if you can manage it. Hang on while I place a silencer on my ears..." groaned Obito.

Naruto grinned evilly...and once the silence charm was on he said loudly "And what would you like to eat Pervy Sage?"

"DAMMIT BRAT, TONE DOWN THE VOLUME! OW!" yelped Jiraiya.

Naruto let out a bark of laughter, and Obito grinned. Naruto was like a younger version of him, only he had more chakra. Luckily for him he could read lips.

"What's on the schedule for today Obito-nii?"

Obito didn't mind one bit that Naruto called him big brother. As far as he was concerned, they were practically related anyway.

"More wind jutsu, once I take a hangover cure."

"Woohoo!"


End file.
